After gaining a tremendous live reputation, Birmingham four-piece The Clause are all set to unleash their debut record ‘Victim of a Casual Thing’, an album full of stories about following your dreams, wanting more, fleeting connections and faltering romances…
A bell sounds to kick off the ‘Prologue’ of the album amidst swathes of synths and background noise. Things kick off properly with the early Stereophonics-meets-Courteeners sound of ‘Nothing’s As It Seems’. It’s power-pop riffs and raw, emotive vocals signalling a band trying to make the most of the little time we have on this mortal coil: ‘Don’t waste your life wishing you were somewhere, ’cause nothing matters when you’re 6 foot under’. ‘Tell Me What You Want’ continues in similar fashion, its stomping riffs already sounding set for stadiums.
‘White Life Line’ has the snarling and sneering sound of the Gallagher brothers’ earliest work while its riffs and wordplay (including an honest admission they’re looking for something to ‘stop my existence from being so bleak’) capture the spirit of Arctic Monkeys’ first few songs. ‘Exception’ is another anthemic piece with a focus on love: ‘I don’t want to let no one in’, ‘The only exception is you’.
‘Weekend Millionaire’ brings a character to life through its storytelling and encourages them to love life at weekends. Basically, it’s saying live like royalty any chance you have. ‘Fever Dream’ has a more retrospective feel – ‘I should have worked harder or listened to advice when I was younger’ – before finishing with repeats of ‘None of it will ever make sense to me’.
The penultimate ‘Pink Moon’ is a big ballad with love in its heart – ‘If you feel the same, we’ll leave here tonight, take to the skies’ – before ‘Don’t Blink’ closes the album with a nostalgic rush.
‘Victim of a Casual Thing’ is a record that you’ll also want to fall for…
