Album Review: Demob Happy - 'The Grown-Ups Are Talking'
Demob Happy’s ‘The Grown-Ups Are Talking’ promises a riff-laden carnival from the first note, with a healthy measure of old-school psychedelia to back up the hedonistic spirit infused in each song.
Strip back the heaviness, however, and you’ll find lyrical themes of loss, grief, and asking questions of oneself. A personal journey from frontman Matthew Marcantonio unfolds for those who delve into the heart of this record. Rewarding you with a cathartic and uncomplicated experience on repeated listens, ‘The Grown-Ups Are Talking’ is at times stark and relentless, but it’s also grounded with authentic emotional depth.
Marcantonio has had a tough few years, with the passing of his father featuring prominently in his mind when writing for ‘The Grown-Ups Are Talking’. His aim was to approach the sorrow with a weight of intellect - But also with the brash fervour that drove Demob Happy’s previous work. Therapy often teaches you to kill off those chaotic and destructive elements of your personality - But Marcantonio realised it was those parts of him that make the song writing so balanced. It’s important to grow and change, but it takes real introspection to cling on to those parts of you which fill you with vitality, and the urge to get up for one more round when life knocks you down.
Power Games is well-placed to begin this album. It’s a pulsing concoction of single-bar guitar lines and off-beat rhythm. One of the more adventurous pieces, Power Games sets out the stall for a hard and heavy record. The mid-section rises to a hypnotic peak, its tight mixture of ideas representing each member of the group at full pelt. It’s pounding and monstrous, enthusiastically announcing Demob Happy’s return to the stage. The next song, No Man Left Behind is a sombre reflection on male suicide, a subject all too close to Marcantonio’s heart, written in tribute to his nephew. This is musically just as dense as Power Games, and makes the start of the album glow white hot with countless energetic melodies.
These sounds were crafted in the hallowed environs of Rancho de la Luna, a studio which has seen many legendary rock gods walk the boards over the years. Built on a hillside in the California desert, the location’s quiet loneliness allowed room for the music to evolve naturally. The band exercised a lot of authenticity when making ‘The Grown-Ups Are Talking’, putting it all on physical tape before post-production. This attitude extended right through the creative process, making for a smoothly produced record, one which is polished but without a trace of pretension or artifice.
Coming in with a glorious double-tracked guitar line, Miracle Worker evokes the glittering resplendence of 70s glam rock. A laid-back mid-tempo suite of songs, this is a more relaxed affair than the opening tracks, and brings a thick slice of Bowie-esque gravitas. On a deep record about rebirth and growth, this is a fun head-nodder that brings things back down to earth. Its lack of layering makes for an unbusy sound, giving ample room for the band to shine out.
Harking back with a Beat Surrender-style vocal harmony to open things up, Who Should I Say Is Calling? is the centrepiece of the album. Written as a conversation between Marcantonio’s good and bad sides, this effortlessly funky bop encapsulates all the finest elements of Demob Happy’s style. It’s tight punk rock drumming, it’s groove-heavy guitar, and it’s harsh yet melodic vocals. The B section has an irresistible tempo drop, which backs a full-band freakout, before coming back to land with Adam Godfrey blasting out one of the sleaziest sax solos you’re going to hear all year. The song is so loose it feels like it’ll fall apart at any moment - But the band drag it back every time.
For an album which is at pains to let go of the sadness and loss at the heart of Marcantonio’s personal struggles, ‘The Grown-Ups Are Talking’ is an optimistic and pleasurable listen, one which sticks to a curated set of styles without getting dull or samey. The fresh, well crafted tunes belie the lyrical content in a way that doesn’t cheapen the message, but also makes for an accessible listen. Demob Happy make songs that glow with the self-assurance of a band that are going from strength to strength, cruising in on a wave of hard rock lustre that demands to be heard.
Words by Adam Davidson
