The Tacticians: Some Kind of Urban Fulfilment
Some Kind of Urban Fulfilment: Not very fulfilling
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Monday, 03, Sep 2007 03:36
Setanta Records, out September 3rd 2007.
In a nutshell.
Cynical 2.0-er jangling.
What's it all about?
Some Kind of Urban Fulfilment takes you on a journey through London, or Anywheresville, The Modern World. In just over 35 minutes, we gain a glimpse into the life of the Tacticians as they play 11 songs exploring eternal themes of love and hope, all against a gritty backdrop of rock and roll life down in the street. Track three has flugelhorn.
Who's it by
The Tacticians are led by songwriters and guitarists Ollie and Joe Tactician, with the former taking on main vocal duties and the latter playing the lead bits of jangling.
A treated photograph of the pair - all pouts and hair - together with bassist Al Begg and drummer Mark Thorby, graces the first inner page of the sleeve. They're stood in front a graffiti-tagged wall, no doubt just a single example of the dystopian urban wasteland they are forced to call home. Stanmore? Chorlton? It doesn't say.
Definitely quite tuneful and musically proficient enough, they look quite young. The hope is that they'll learn.
As an example.
"Out on the street they've taken my phone / I cried for help but I was alone... Ask for the way and I got in a fight / I meet you in Old Street after ten at night" - London's Alright
"...Spare me your banalities..." - Honey You Ain't Needed Anymore
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Not a chance. Perhaps a MySpace award, voted for by "the fans".
What the others say
"It's not offensive, just criminally bland in places ... given a bit more elbow grease and just plain dirt they could start to win some hearts. But they won't just yet." - Ben Patashnik, Drowned In Sound
"The riffs are catchy, the vocals are melodic, and the lyrics have an ironising flair. this is a wonderful album for the summer, and once you become accustomed to the eclectic tunes they'll stick in your head." - Ciaran Jones Ciaran Jones, Sheffield Steel
So is it any good?
If you've read this far, you'll probably have sensed a certain cynicism on our part about the Tacticians. It isn't just based on the appalling lyrics and distressingly gauche photographs filling up the liner notes, though they certainly don't help.
It's difficult to decide if the boys really believe in what they're doing, or if they're just casting out a net for some of the lost MySpacers - who they naturally thank in the sleeve - looking for undemanding acoustic indie to spend their Saturday job money on and a "scene" on which to latch.
The former is much more forgiveable. We've all been in terrible bands, especially in our youth, with a built-in-superiority complex (Ordinary People, Town Full of Losers) and total lack of self-awareness (London's Alright, Hardcore Porn). Thankfully, most of us just have a handful of C90s and - if we're particularly unlucky - dodgy camcorder footage, of our exploits. Some Kind of Urban Fulfilment immortalises that awkwardness for eternity.
Get A Move On is the track that stands out for the best reasons, evoking a blustery first-album Embrace, it survives its awful "leave this neighbourhood" lyrics to show that, when they grow up, the Tacticians perhaps have just about enough way with a tune to maybe escape the constrictive world they've made for themselves and foisted on us here.
2.5 /10
Mayer Nissim