Review Summary: At bit twee at times, but ultimately a sincere and solid album that's definitely worth a listen
At only 32 minutes long,
The Tellers second full length album is certainly worth a listen. It's producer, Gordon Raphael (The Strokes, Regina Spektor) lends some serious weight to a band largely unheard of outside of mainland Europe and their homeland of Belgium. This is quite surprising really, since their tuneful, upbeat melodies are pretty damn infectious for the most part. The Lyrics are consistently clever and remain interesting throughout. "Close The Evil Eye" is a record that manages to flow well, despite the variety it offers; thanks mainly to perfect track-sequencing.
Its opening track, "Drama" is an interesting and catchy number; reminiscent of a "Humbug" era
Arctic Monkeys with its darker undertone and plodding bassline. The lyrics too, are of a similar vein, perhaps even drawing from
The Libertines "And when your little love / rebounds off my skin / It's not a matter / of who's gonna win."
"Evil Eye" is a fantastic dancey offering, sounding like a cross between
Spoon and
Babyshambles. It's a little odd, I liked it. Like the majority of the tracks on this album, it doesn't overstay it's welcome and remains enjoyable throughout. Fast-paced at times, slow at others with a lovely bridge halfway through. Upbeat guitars at a shambling pace makes for an endearing track, the chorus even brought to mind
Junior Senior.
The album loses momentum somewhat with "Like I Say", which was a bit twee-pop for me. Eventually, I'll admit, it grew on me somewhat. It certainly ends well; but doesn't quite stand up to the rest of the album in terms of depth. Borrowing from, shall we say,
The Kaiser Chiefs school of writing lyrics, (repeating "lika lika lika like I say, we'd better, better, better go away".) That said, it's not a terrible track and has its moments later on with a few decent verses.
"Secrets" is one of the stand-out tracks on the album, it takes a few listens, but its mellow guitar progressions work really well with the simple lyrics. "And all the secrets that you're spinning / And I know it's up to me, to make them fall apart / So I don't break your heart." The result is a beautiful, acoustic tune- one that really makes me smile.
"Silent Hills" opens well, reminding me of
Franz Ferdinand. However it's a largely forgettable track. It's only short and has its moments; but is ultimately a bit drab. It manages to get repetitive despite it's short runtime and was the only track I found that dragged a little. It's not great, it's not terrible either.
"Salt" is a 24 second slow acoustic ballad which mainly serves as the backdrop to "Cold As Ice" which is a raw-sounding power-pop beast of a track that's catchy from the off. The lyrics are shouted out to a quick beat: "Can't you see that I'm cold as ice / I never dream when I close my eyes / and I cry rivers! / Send shivers down my spine" Personally, this was my favourite track on the LP, one I'd recommend if you liked the sound of the whole Arctic Monkeys/Libertines mix thing. The more you listen, the more you forget that this band's from Belgium and not the U.K.
The most poppy number on the album, (I'm pretty sure it has cowbell) "I've Got A World" starts off sounding like something they'd play on the radio back in 2005 and yet doesn't sound too stale thanks to some innovative hooks and grooves. Gordon Raphael's influence is most self-evident on this track, with a Strokes-esque sound shining through; and although it's not in the same league in terms of catchiness, it's still got a great rhythm to it.
"Friends of Mine" is great track. Vocally, it excels with lyrics that are simple and memorable "You'd better watch your back / You'd better watch your back / 'Cause knives are pretty fast". The intro sounds like a
Slow Club track before it opens up a can of fast-paced, raw guitar which builds into a crescendo, capped with 'Whooaaaa's'.
Once more
The Tellers lyrics excel further still with "I Wish" an ominous track with a mix of mallet instrumentation and heavy guitar notes. "So bury the box in the garden right there / And I hope that I will not remember where." It's quite a poetic number and stands up there with the better tracks on the album. The last track "7 Words" is a pleasant acoustic ballad which introduces strings into the mix. It's lower tempo follows on nicely from the previous track and slowly brings the album to a close with some nice sentimental rubbish- "I will love you, all my life"
Overall, "Close The Evil Eye" is a great album, one which I'd recommend. It's not particularly ground-breaking; and in parts you get the feeling you've heard this one before. But lyrically, it really excels- simple and poetic; and set to more than just acoustic flimsy. You get the sense that some real heart has gone into the record and it's all very sincere. Even when the odd tune falls short of the mark, or is a little twee, the short track lengths make for easy and enjoyable listening.
Recommended Tracks: "Drama", "Evil Eye", "Secrets", "Cold As Ice"
