Album Review: Community Radio ‘Look Now You’re Cursed’

Community Radio have dropped their sophomore album ‘Look Now You’re Cursed’ and the melancholic sounds and themes will hit you hard in those feels. With members from Youth Group and The Vines, the band is bringing together a number of interesting sounds on the new album without straying too far from a familiar tone.

The Sydney-based quartet were forced to put together the album under vastly different circumstances to what they had initially envisioned. From the outset, the band had hoped to self-produce with cheap gear that they had purchased themselves, but when drummer Malcolm McKernan fell seriously ill the band went to the studio to record as fast as possible. The result is an often deeply melancholic and, at some times, downright sad collection of 1 songs that’ll tug at the heartstrings.

“The bass line shines with an upbeat strut to it and the drums are softly brushed, almost giving a Paul Simon sound to the short track, while the guitar picks up in the bridge with a short but punchy solo.”

Jumpy bass and guitar lines kick off Love To Get High and the album in a track that keeps an upbeat sound. There isn’t a lot of variation, even in the chorus with the bass maintaining a similar feel, while the guitar switches to a slightly different riff. However, the second track Sick in the Car is where the band start to head towards those darker tones. The opening of the track blends electric and acoustic guitar in an interesting way, amounting to something that sounds halfway between Joy Division and the Pixies. Anxiety-ridden lines like “I feel sick in the car/I feel sick almost everywhere” are put forward up the interesting vocal style of frontman Cameron Emerson-Elliot, however like the previous track Sick In The Car follows a down a similar path from top to bottom.

The harmonies in the chorus of Crystal Ball provide a sweet respite from an otherwise very sad track, which talks about the loss of someone close. Emerson-Elliot pines his life’s plans went out the window and there wasn’t a lot that a crystal ball could have done to warn him about the departure of the woman he loved. One Book A Treasure and Old New York have very similar feels to them, with mopey bass and metronomic drum lines providing the solid foundation for jangling guitar and synthesisers.

It’s around this time in the album that many of the songs begin to meld together from a lack of distinct sound, and whether you think that is a good or bad thing, the band double down on a lot of similar tones in their tracks.

From the outset, Real Transformation takes a different approach to its sound from the previous tracks, this time having a more bluesy feel. The bass line shines with an upbeat strut to it and the drums are softly brushed, almost giving a Paul Simon sound to the short track, while the guitar picks up in the bridge with a short but punchy solo. Lyrically, the song talks of a two people who are moving into a new home, and how their different experiences are shaping the way their relationship is evolving in this new place.

“The album is still enjoyable, especially if you’re after an album that delivers good guitar-pop, it does seem to miss the mark somewhat in a number of places.”

This marked sonic move continues through to At The Oasis, which highlights Jenny Kevin’s piano work, with an almost honky-tonk sound in the post-chorus. This is nicely combined with a trumpet that pierces through the casual strumming on the lead guitar and these elements are an interesting break from the all too familiar guitar-bass-drums foundations.

While Have You Never Played Before takes a far darker tone than many of the earlier tracks, Travel Endlessly has a far more upbeat tone with vocal canon giving texture to the track. Travel Endlessly and the follow up track Nightclub Called Heaven both exhibit a sound more similar to Real Transformation, however they have a more relaxed and laid back feel. There is an eeriness towards the end of the album as the tracks begin to use a more distant and faded effect on the guitar and synth lines.

While Community Radio has laid down 11 tracks that each on their own are strong and emotional, the similarity between sounds and tones across all the tracks lets down the album as a whole. Many of the tracks begin to blur into one another, and while there are moments of interesting sounds and distinct tones overall the album feels like a lot of the same. The album is still enjoyable, especially if you’re after an album that delivers good guitar-pop, it does seem to miss the mark somewhat in a number of places.

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