Album Review: Spring King ‘Tell Me If You Like To’

Lo-fi indie rock has been taking over our radios/headphones in the last few years with a huge number of bands giving their material a fun, loose, grittiness, and we’ve been drinking it up like it’s a $3 basics happy hour. One such band that are loving the sounds afforded by lo-fi recordings are UK garage rockers Spring King. Off the back of their ‘They’re Coming For You’ and ‘Demons’ EPs and a string of singles going back to 2014, the band have finally dropped their rockin’ debut album ‘Tell Me If You Like To’.

At first glance the album would seem to follow a strict set of rules and the style in the band’s previous releases. Bass is the name of the game for most of the tracks, often built on a solid foundation of rolling tom-heavy drum beats and jangling surf-rock-esque guitar. However, a closer look at the album reveals Spring King have written a soundtrack to a garage rock weekend bender.

Kicking off the first night of frivolity, City attacks the listener with a doubled drum fill leading into a driving bassline and fuzzy, but partially muted guitars. The song never lets up. Through the verses a fast pace is maintained by the bass, which steps up even further in choruses with lead guitar lines soloing underneath the pulsing rhythm.  The lyrics seem to represent this non-stop barrage of aggression, with frontman Tarek Musa repeatedly and anthemically proclaiming, “I Won’t Let Go! Won’t Let Go!”. 

A dash of Kenny G-style saxophone adds more texture to the track in the later half, and this gives the track a very surfy feel, as well as a distinct and stand-out sound.

The second track Detroit sounds like it could be straight out of the playbook of the fictional band Sex Bob-omb from ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs The World’. However it’s in the third track Who Are You? Spring King really shine. By far the standout on the album (probably why it was the lead single, released last year), Who Are You? seems the most polished, too. The effect-driven, whirling guitar will grab you by the hand and drag you to the middle of a crowded dance floor all by itself, supported this time by the bass and drum lines, instead of playing in the background.

The drummer’s cymbals seem to have fallen off in mixing, which gives the vocal harmonies and lead guitar room to breathe. A dash of Kenny G-style saxophone adds more texture to the track in the later half, and this gives the track a very surfy feel, as well as a distinct and stand-out sound. The second lot of three songs take a distinct stylistic turn. After the build up ending in Who Are You?’s climax, It’s So Dark, Take Me Away, and Demons slow down dramatically compared to the other tracks in the album.

Almost a shift in genre, closer to new wave or post-punk, these three tracks plod along at a more relaxed pace. However, don’t confuse this for a more relaxed tone, instead opting for darkness and introspection; our figurative first day hangover. It’s So Dark has a more sinister effect to the guitar lines, but misses the mark as it tries to sound tonally noir.

Take Me Away follows further down the darker line, but experiments with its guitars, adding a variety of effects and techniques that unsettle the listener. Demons thematically looks at redemption, with Musa describing how he “Wants to let go of the demons”, and the track has a liberal application of acoustic guitar and manipulated guitar sounds.

While sounding very similar to many other tracks on the album, The Summer has an interesting break down in the bridge that seems to be the bands proclamation that ‘hey, we can be kinda quiet too!’

As if the band realised how dark their material was getting, or they got a second wind and decided to go back out for round two, Rectifier jumps straight back into a happier and more rollicking sound. The surf rock influences are a staple of this song with its staccato guitar and vocal reverb.

Title track, Tell Me If You Like To really puts the punk into the band’s self-proclaimed “art-pop-punk” with its three-chord structure. There are definite Sex Pistols influences throughout the track, and it’s the most messily produced number. The drums shine through in this track, with most other instruments taking a backseat compared to the skins.

The album’s second single The Summer goes in a similar direction, with its driving beat, this time offset by long organ notes and a melancholic vibe towards the sunny season. While sounding very similar to many other tracks on the album, The Summer has an interesting break down in the bridge that seems to be the bands proclamation that ‘hey, we can be kinda quiet too!’.

After night two of this by-now weary and overdone party analogy, the listener wakes up hazy. Heaven represents this with heavy, muted guitars and a return to the darker tones of the middle of the record. There’s little variation in the chords or rhythm for most of the track, however as the track draws to a close the instrumentation seems to slowly creep towards to the listener while the vocals become distant and faded, and you’re surrounded by the encroaching guitar lines on all side.

Overall, fans of Spring King’s previous releases will be getting a 10-track serving of more of what they love. However, if you were searching for a variation on the theme, you may have to wait for a sophomore album. Interestingly, while the band have said they largely wanted to get the songs recorded as quickly as possible, trying to retain their raw emotion, the songs that have the most polish, Who Are You?, Demons and City, are the standouts on the album, where most other songs start to blend together.

Spring King Live Dates

WED 20 JUL
Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
SAT 23 JUL
Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands
SUN 24 JUL
Corner Hotel, Melbourne

Get Tickets HERE