The Meadowlands (1/33)

The Meadowlands by The Wrens.
2003

Standout Tracks: Hopeless, Everyone Chooses Sides, Boys You Wont.

This album was recommended to me by a friend that I haven't spoken to in ages. If it wouldn't make me look like some kind of weirdo, I'd get in touch just to thank her for introducing me to this band and this album.

The overall feel of the record, to me, is scruffy indie-pop - with scruffy as a compliment. It's a collision of raw and polished guitar sounds, vocals from all four members of the band and unfamiliar song structures, yet the album is effortlessly cohesive. The songs flow naturally through their brilliant running order - a short, subtle opener leading into the escalating majesty of 'Happy' before dropping into the acoustic sing-along of 'She Sends Kisses', for example.

Sat in the middle of this album, 'Hopeless' and 'Faster Gun' are probably the catchiest of the tracks. The former being a standout with its spiralling guitar line and infectious melody. "Go thank yourself for nothing, it's really all you're good for!" A song this pretty shouldn't have such a barbed theme, but it works perfectly.
This album shines lyrically, with 'Everyone Chooses Sides' featuring some of my favourite lines: "I am the best seventeen year old ever!" reminding me of teenage arrogance and "I've walked away from more than you imagine and I sleep just fine!" being an air-punching statement of defiance. A statement whose impact is amplified by its delivery at the apex of the song. Another example being the almost contrived line "thought I had it all figured out but look who got it wrong!" which is not only saved, but promoted by its excellent delivery and the way it sits in 'Thirteen Grand'.

This is an indie-pop/rock album featuring acoustic guitars, pianos, orchestration and vocal harmonies. This is the kind of album that the likes of Starsailour dream of making and its existence both exposes and embarrasses them. Not forgetting of course that this album also rocks like a b*stard.
This is the genre at it's most perfect; infectious intelligent pop devoid of clichés, compromise and that soulless neatness. It's pop that isn't immediate and doesn't fade quickly, the rewards are earned from repeated listens.

This is The Wrens' third album, the band were dropped from their label after the first two for refusing to make more 'radio-friendly' music. Seven years later this album surfaced, described by the NME as "the ultimate rare treasure" and by The New York Times as a "nearly universally acclaimed disc of bright literate pop".