A confession: for much of this debut album from London fuzz-pop fivesome The History of Apple Pie, I have little to no idea what vocalist Stephanie Min is on about. Sweet and half-whispered, floating above crunchy bass and tuneful guitar riffage, it’s almost as if her vocals are there for effect rather than having something to say.
But it’s not like contemporary pop is underrepresented by sloganeering and cheesy rhyming couplets, and when the music is this good who cares? Ten giddy teenage anthems thudding to earth packed with lust, heartache and the need to dance all night, Out of View is a lesson in emotional literacy all of its own. The best things don’t need to be written down.
“Tug” starts the album as it means to go on. It begins with some glitchy techno wizardry to throw the listener off balance (it’s a trick that will show up a couple of times, giving the ears a chance to breathe before another aural onslaught of hammers and bubblegum) before a fuzzy, bass-heavy riff storms ahead like thunder. It sounds like Sonic Youth at their most melodic combined with the cheerful otherworldliness of the best of J-Pop. The vocals, when they come in, throw a little Veruca Salt into a perfect mix.
Elsewhere the band channel guitar-heavy indie rock (“Mallory”), wubby shoegaze (“The Warrior”, “I Want More”) and teen angst captured in song (“You’re So Cool”), each one accompanied by those angelic, sugar-sweet vocals. “Do It Wrong” and “Long Way to Go” dial back the pace a little, but not the energy. The guitar partnership of co-songwriter Jerome Watson and Aslam Ghauri, together with Kelly Owens on bass, packs enough heat to hint at what an explosive live act The History of Apple Pie could be. And with tour dates across the UK during most of February, it’ll be easy enough to find out.
Take a listen to "Mallory" below
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