Lyricism Shines Throughout The Words’ Debut Album Truth & Faith

The title track of Truth & Faith, the debut album by The Words, exemplifies the album’s generally uplifting, empathetic, and lightly commiserate character. The band uses the varied vehicles of ska, Brit pop, punk, and even country folk tones to bring forth an excitement felt by those who recognize a band on the verge of multiplying recognition. The Words’ premiere album is a careful and sensitive attempt to capture a wider audience, catering their aural gestures towards a popular listenership, narrowing focus only at times to appeal to the jangly appetities of British youth culture.

The album balances making the requisite appropriate marks of musical pleasantry to enter the realm of possible global appeal while maintaining their inspiration, which, in research, appears to be unmistakably punkish, dissatisfied, and even a tad rude. In fact, rudeness is apparent in the title of the first song on the album, “FAG,” where grunge meets pop at the speed of the Ramones. “FAG” boasts able and fast musicianship, full of youth and loosened inhibition, that is certainly slam dance-worthy. The Words never lose control of their occasionally blistering sonic assaults, however, molding what’s loud and noisy into a tight unity of dog fighting guitars and machine gun drumming. The Words also have a bit of Mod in them, bringing in bratty kid backing vocals to contribute a touch of attitude to their few defiances.

“Everybody’s With You” is the satellite single for Truth & Faith, and serves as listener bait for the album’s richer material. The song doesn’t much represent them musically, but is lyrically noteworthy. Vocalist Steven Draper tastes the sung letters while infusing them with clever sincerity. “Everybody’s With You” employs sprung rhythm, with Draper singing, “If I’m a loser, I’m on a losing streak, and the peak of my streak I’m about to reach.” Draper’s literary (or rather alliteral) know-how complement the genuine novelty of his Steely Dan meets Paul McCartney vocals brought current, and fashioned for relevance to an indie audience.

“Demons” (“Don’t let your demons drag you down”) brings in a sound unusually carried by a British band. “Demons” is like a less instrumentally, but more lyrically, prodigious Average White Band offering a la “Amy”, like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (seriously!) with a British accent . Draper supplements ample theatrical vocals in “Demons” with a competent choral arrangement.

“Head Over Heels” is a sublime (pun intended) boppy musing of an unfulfilled crush. The song is fun, smart, and innocent with Draper languishing, “I like your eyes! I like your hair! I like your everything! We could be together, we could talk about the weather, How in and out of clever we are!” While perhaps not the best song on the album, it’s certainly one that embodies The Words’ potential for brilliance.

With the songs “Siren” and “Falling,” The Words seem to have been prescribed a direction that is new to them. When one listens around online to songs of the band’s that are not on Truth & Faith, apparent is the drastic difference between their very punk acclamations of protest and the fluidity and agreeable melodies attained in songs like “Falling and Siren.” The listener who is already familiar with The Words has to either accept a new mode of flexibility in listening to Truth and Faith to accommodate their efforts towards general palatability, or else maintain that a disruption in the identity formation of the band has occurred. The latter charge is easily refuted by the band’s ability to make good music inside and outside expectations of character, perhaps even in denial of the necessity of any one fixed identity for the band at all. Identity for The Words is either beside their musical point entirely, or else so fortuitous that it enables them to change their persona at will, as they see musically fit.

“Under the Sun” is a friendly song with that Mancunian sound that appeals exclusively to British audiences. Its happy/sober countenance reminds one of a partly sunny day in which British youth gallivant around Trafalgar Square laughing and playing pranks upon one another. It’s the opposite of deep, but, oh, that American bands (and youth) should be so happy and capable of joy! “We were dancing in the bars, singing how the future’s ours, Wishing all those summer days would stay!” The song is fine, and intentionally sanguine for the James crowd, but not nearly as much as the next song, “Stand Up, Sit Down,” which is a far cry from the Radiohead song of similar, but flipped, title. “Stand Up, Sit Down” serves as the band’s payment of respect to that light and lively positive pop icon of the 1990s, James, and their anthem of youthful hope, “Sit Down.”

Truth & Faith is an inviting, digestible, and effectively mood-lightening album, so it’s not the place for more invested Words’ material found elsewhere, such as “Drum for a Soul,” an antiestablishment satire that lambasts the false utopian view of the materialist, convinced that increasing human production and possession will cure the world of all its ills. Instead, Truth & Faith is a kind of lyrical and melodic garden, pretty, gently didactic, and contemplatively nourishing. The Words bring, through Truth & Faith, to the world a hopeful candle that will flame into a brightly burning torch in the near future.

Album: Truth & Faith

Release Date: November 14, 2011

Genre(s): Indie/Alternative

Location: Manchester, UK

Members: Ste Draper – Vocal, Neil Rowbotham – Lead Guitar/Vocal, Tom Jackson – Bass/Vocal & Graeme Smith – Drums

Label: Pheonixx Records

Myspace Link: http://www.myspace.com/thewordsmusic

Facebook Link: http://www.myspace.com/thewordsmusic

Website: http://www.thewordsmusic.co.uk

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