Merchandise - Album Preview

Before you even hear these guys you’ve probably got hoodies, skin-tight T’s and CDs on the mind.

The clever ploy of actually calling your band Merchandise aside, these guys are so chilled, so sweet and so arty it’s a given that you have to stop whatever you are doing and listen.

All four of these tracks are exclusive previews set to appear on their forthcoming album, and the premier track is ‘Beautiful Morning For A Bad Day’ that’s subtly sensational what with its cute drum loop, the poetically shy and retiring lyric ‘There’s a lot of people in this world that do not want to be known’ - and not forgetting a general Alt.-pop sound that isn’t that far removed from Badly Drawn Boy’s lo-fi genius.

Indeed, these are lo-tech solutions to hi-tech problems as ‘14.53’ has the frontman reminding of Steve Harley with his accentuated vocals, leaving the distinctively chilled guitar line to frame the greatest lyric I’ve heard in a long, long while: ‘I’ll run through my excuses with a sword.’

Their acoustic-based ‘Echolalia’ sucks out even more lo-fi charm from their endearing masterplan, the sheer bliss and heavenly natured atmospherics reminding of Hull Alt.-pop experimentalists Salako and Fonda 500, Merchandise ominously reckoning that ‘Dreams are made of water.’ Which is as weird as ‘For The Shore’ is subdued yet soothingly reminiscent of the Super Furry Animals and even Pulp’s finest lo-fi moments of quirky reflection.

The softly narrated vocals literally sound to be a God send, and this is further proof - and now all the proof we will ever need - that Merchandise are a genuinely special band to hear at all costs… 5/5 (STEVE RUDD)