MUSIC REVIEW: TRIBES - 'WE WERE CHILDREN EP'

A Debut EP Shows the Coming of Age with Rock Swagger & Poetic Insight

By: Andrew Shaw

November 29, 2011

(Island Records) We Were Children EP is an introductory release from Brit alt-rock quartet Tribes. Ahead of US tour dates and a full album release of much-anticipated Baby in January of next year, here is a release to lubricate the minds and raise the pulses.

There's a tradition of four-piece guitar bands that sound like they've been born in garages, even if their sound isn't strictly 'garage'. The British have a soft spot for boys with guitars, cigarettes, and swagger. There's a fashion that never drops too far from style for artists who sound out their roots whilst arriving like a breath of fresh air. Tribes check all of the above boxes. However, much as they may appear 'garage,' they inhabit a double-wide sound. Yes, there are cigarettes and swagger, but the lyrics contain poetry -- genuine poetry from the ashtrays and memories of young men. The sound of their roots is strong and deep; they are informed by heroes, but they hold warm irreverence for hero-worship.

At only four tracks long and with one of the songs being an acoustic demo version of the title track, there is the sense that this release serves as a short fuse before the detonation of the full album -- only a matter of weeks away. The clout of these tracks arrives like a weighted glove. Production places guitars high in the mix with splashy cymbals and solidly bouncing kicks; this is straight-up alt-indie fare. But that comfort barrier lasts as long as the opening six bars of the jangled hooks of the opening track. Pretty soon we're in the territory of musicians that deal in easy anthems -- anthems made all the sweeter for the awareness of all things pop as being disposable. Vocals cover everything, and it's then evident how and why we need to hear the acoustic demo version. The rocked-up radio version of “We Were Children” captures some of the magic of its accompanying video: a rooftop gig in Camden, one of London's coolest quarters. The street is filled with beautiful (we're all beautiful) people unified in youth, exuberance, and song. The acoustic demo version is a naked and tender account of the same emotion but sung with intimacy, reflection, and 'come to bed' or 'let's share a smoke' eyes. “It was a day like today, a Sunday afternoon when they took you away / down to Hades in a shopping trolley / with a magazine and a suitcase / They stole your clothes / I took your watch / I couldn't look you in the eye / why, its always those who you love the most, you criticize.”

It's the balance of swagger and sensitivity that Tribes pull off so well, and it's what distinguishes them from others who may dance within the same genre. For all the hipster lip-curling, the reflection here is of genuine, generously hearted artists who would empty their pockets of shrapnel coins and half-smoked blunts for anyone who happened to be in greater need. Pride balances well with a self-effacing approach to ironically strutting lyricism. “My girlfriend doesn't love me / my haircut doesn't suit me / my best friend thinks I'm lazy / But I don't care; they don't know me.” “Girlfriend” delivered across the rhymes adds to the air of generation-defining lyrics.

“Coming of Age” seals the deal of Tribes being a group who are encapsulating what it feels like to be a certain kind of young man living in a certain kind of world with a certain kind of perspective. The more specialized, the more focused an artist is within his own vision, so a strangely broad appeal unfolds. “I wanna stay up late in your room at night / I wanna watch my world grow old and die / I wanna get drunk, leave my brain outside / I wanna make friends with people I don't like.” The approach is unforced and natural and has a similar air of self-definition, and therefore universal definition. What a young Oasis achieved with tracks “Supersonic” or “Live Forever,” so Tribes is within reach of accomplishing here. By bursting onto a scene in a time of economic uncertainty, of social confusion and unrest, here is a band who brings it down to a celebration of self, of personal habits, of shared experience and new takes on old fashioned alt-rock.

There are bound to be skeptics, because skeptics love to exist where good stuff is happening. They will knock Tribes and reference bands from generations passed who echo in these chord progressions. The skeptics are missing a very valuable point. Tribes steps beyond apathy and cynicism and are singing for their generation; they are obviously aware of the fleeting beauty of everything they see and sing about, apparently aware that, as artists, they are passing through ages with a limited number of chords and beats and melodies. However, everything they make, they're making their own, and they are certainly extracting the best of their time -- a principle that usually secures notoriety and longevity. Those skeptics have forgotten the first time they shared the last cigarette of the night, or the first time they walked the streets at dawn with a bottle of liquor, or how it was to be sat on the edge of a desirable mattress, driven to their knees with the weight of unchartered passions. Tribes, on the other hand, owns those streets, rooms, and emotions, and they're sharing the lot. Add serious volume.

Standout Tracks: "We Were Children", "Girlfriend", "Coming of Age"

For Fans Of: Suede, Oasis, Elbow, Kasier Chiefs