It’s been over a year since the gigantic ‘Never Fade Away’ appeared on YouTube. Slowly but surely the uniquely London band Spector began to drip through: Fred Macpherson’s deadpan wit consumed every interview, ‘Chevy Thunder’ took us back to 2004, ‘Grey Shirt & Tie’ gave them the variety and depth they formerly lacked. And now after multiple Spectours and a nomination as BBC Sound of 2012, the cynically titled Enjoy It While It Lasts finally justifies the hype.
‘Chevy Thunder’ blasts open with “Not coming back but I can’t stop waiting / give me a minute while my heart stops breaking / give me a minute while I fix my tie /give me a minute while I take my life”. The song is truly anthemic, with Danny Blandy’s drums raising Macpherson’s hubris and self-consciously ironic lyrics up to the point where you want to scream the lyrics back at him. ‘Twenty Nothing’ continues in a similar, if tamer, direction with the guitar stripped back and replaced by woozy bass and harmonies.
‘Friday Night, Don’t Ever Let It End’ jumps out of the album and spills onto the dancefloor. “I thought it was the weekend /but where are all my friends? / It’s Friday night don’t ever let it end” croons Macpherson in defiance. With a highly strung guitar bound by a synth-line that almost threatens to break loose entirely, there’s something reminiscent of a wild house-party without the guilt-riddled comedown. Ending on the line “I don’t want to wake up alive”, the whole things feels like a nostalgic elegy to youth.
The album moves from the party to the morning after with the slower swooners ‘Lay Low’ and ‘Grey Shirt & Tie’. Most surprisingly of all, there’s a real feeling of genuineness that comes from ‘Lay Low’, as if the superficiality of singing about drinking, dancing, driving and (not) pulling has melted away. The band that once told Soccer AM “Chevy Thunder was originally Citroen Saxo until Chevy offered us loads of money” might just have found an outlet for seriousness.
The album isn’t without its flaws. ‘Grim Reefer’ fails to really achieve anything with its dabble in slower beats and overbearing production, while ‘Upset Boulevard’ seems hollow, repetitive and confused as a miss-match amongst more finely tuned singles and concepts. But these flaws fade into the background when you consider how Spector have dragged eight year old indie rock into 2012. They’re not the messiahs and this isn’t the second coming, but they’ve never claimed any of this. They’re just a bunch of nostalgic, awkward 20-somethings who are doing something new with old ideas – and it works.