Review:

on 2011-07-28 toughenuprob Said:

Essentially, The Wages of Fear continues Tellisons line in lithe, Weakerthansy guitar pop as sung by English Lit students, whilst building on the efficient scrappiness of debut Contact! Contact!, to create something more fleshed-out and fulfilling. Opening track Get On is the most grin-inducing, recklessly hopeful thing Ive heard in ages - I might have some writers block it goes, but Im still useful to you, and it makes you feel useful and needed and wanted, all over the crashing Telecasters that Tellison fans have come to know and love. The feeling is something replicated over the course of the album in tracks like lead single Say Silence or Edith, whose bittersweet joy could probably have even the most flint-hearted individual punching the air in secret. The opposite end of the albums emotional spectrum is no less affecting, centerpiece Tell It To Thebes sadly recounting the fallibility of language in the face of real life, to a downbeat stomp a little reminiscent of latterday Brand New, complete with guitar freakout and buried screams.
The Wages of Fear could very easily have been a bad album. Tellison had a brilliant debut to follow up, and theyve opted for glossier production, and less coded lyricisms. It could have been obvious, bland, and wholly unenjoyable. Its difficult to say whether closer My Wifes Grave is in Paris is beautiful or crushing (probably a bit of both), but either way, its a lovely way to end a well-written, well-produced, and thoroughly addictive record. I hope you wish youd not met me sings S H Davidson sadly at the songs close, but based on The Wages of Fear, I dont regret it at all.

Rating: 9/10