SPECTOR - Enjoy It While It Lasts

What do Franz Ferdinand, Kasabian, Killers and Arctic Monkeys have in common? It's quite simple: they all became known and appreciated within a strictly indie context before going on to achieve enough fame to play very large venues across much of the world. These bands' careers kicked off between 2004 and 2006, and in the years since there hasn't been a comparable run of names making the leap from indie obscurity to stardom (only Florence Welch is currently bringing her live show in front of many thousands of spectators everywhere). 2012 could go down as the year Spector made their long-player debut, precisely because the indie world has been buzzing about them for a while, and it wouldn't be at all surprising if this quintet achieved the same results as the names mentioned above (not by coincidence, they're currently on tour with Florence).

The commercial appeal of every song on this record is, in fact, remarkable. The melodies are instantly sticky; the rhythm is often urgent in just the right way, and even when it slows down, tone and vitality never go missing; the sound has all the necessary overall polish and doesn't skimp on either a good dose of electricity or a glittery use of keyboards; frontman Fred MacPherson's voice has that certain something that makes it immediately likeable and engaging, conveying the idea of a strongly charismatic artist (just see them live to understand that the great charisma isn't just an idea but is actually real — after all, this isn't his first time fronting a band, having previously led Les Incompetents and Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man); certain titles alone are enough to raise a smile ("Twenty-Nothing" and "Upset Boulevard" especially), and more than one passage in the lyrics seems tailor-made to strike right at the imagination of countless people. You find yourself singing along with that sly voice and an irresistible melody and sound to the words "one you started coming over, two you started sleeping over, three you started taking over, four you told me it was over" or "don't wait up, I won't be home, true romantics sleep alone", and all you can think is "ok, you win".

So why is this record enjoyable even for those who normally listen to indie music? Shouldn't we be bothered by works purposely made to please the people who matter? Not when everything is crafted with generous doses of taste and inspiration. Just as it shouldn't be taboo to claim that dozens of hardcore indie songwriters would have given anything to write a melody as beautiful as those of "…Baby One More Time" or "Umbrella" or "Paparazzi" — and if we started listing Madonna and Michael Jackson songs we'd never stop — in the same way it's only fair to acknowledge that the melodic ideas behind all these tracks are of high quality. Clearly, then, there are other reasons why we don't enjoy the songs mentioned above: the sound and the voice above all, but that's where the taste we mentioned comes back into play, because there's never any genuine tackiness or gratuitous pandering here: the various riffs and arrangement choices do result in something accommodating and easy to listen to, but they also give the impression that their main purpose is to showcase the melodies, rather than simply to attract more listeners.

There's also an important consistency in quality throughout this record: all killers, no fillers, as the saying goes, not least because every track has a strong identity, melodically above all, and the development of individual songs doesn't always stick rigidly to traditional song structure — in some cases ("Lay Low", the aforementioned "Upset Boulevard" and "No Adventure") unexpected twists appear, or a genuine journey in which the song starts one way and ends up somewhere entirely different. One last strength: the use of backing vocals and harmonies, always spot-on and engaging, whether doubling the lead vocal, crossing over with it, or, especially, alternating with it ("What You Wanted" is exemplary in this respect).

Ultimately, it really is worth enjoying this band while it lasts, as the album title suggests. Not because Spector are destined to disappear, but, on the contrary, because it's likely that before long one of their songs will end up in some massive ad campaign or in the choreography of some TV show full of showgirls and the like. At that point, it'll cost you twenty euros to buy one of their CDs and forty to see them live, and the fans who got there first will remember just how much fun it was when they were the only ones who knew about them.

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08/10/2012