Nottingham three-piece, The Wharves, continue the current golden era of music in the city with their outstanding debut record, At Bay.
Having been recorded in Rory Atwell’s Lightship 95 studio, At Bay does seem fittingly nautical, not just by name but in the ebb and flow of its sound. It’s perhaps the best label you can give the album. Its choral elements could be just as easily compared to the tribal chants of Goat as they could be to Murmur-era R.E.M.. Likewise, the guitar chords and drum clicks reach towards The Breeder’s LSXX while the echoed vocals seem far closer to Warpaint.
production goes well beyond what would have been possible to achieve as a three-piece if recorded as amateurs
The complex sound of the album is no doubt in part due to its recording. The production goes well beyond what would have been possible to achieve as a three-piece if recorded as amateurs. Bringing in a piano, a mandolin, a male voice choir, and vocal overdubs, recording the album was a serious project. You can distinctly hear this pay off in the dense sound it produces on the record. Yet part of the thickness simply remains due to the three girls’ strong vocals.
‘By Hook or by Crook’ increases in tempo until its thunderous chorus arrives, sung over a scuzzy background
Many of the songs are structured around building towards strong choruses, ‘By Hook or by Crook’ increases in tempo until its thunderous chorus arrives, sung over a scuzzy background- like a less minimal, less harsh Pixies. ‘Mother Damnable’ has a crushing wall of vocals all the way through- while on many occasions the singing on At Bay has an ethereal edge to it, it is just as often overwhelmingly powerful.
The Wharves manage to give it a cutting, modern edge which is likely to take many listeners by surprise
It’s a record which goes against expectations of the kind of music a three-piece guitar band produces. The Wharves manage to give it a cutting, modern edge which is likely to take many listeners by surprise. Whether a fan of psychedelia, scuzz or softer sounds, At Bay requires a listen.
9/10
Ian Fillingham
Ian is listening to: Tom Waits – ‘The House Where Nobody Lives’
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