Forth Wanderers – ‘The Longer This Goes On’ album review: Not a comeback, but we can hope
THE SKINNY: In 2018, Forth Wanderers were set to be the next big thing in indie. Their earlier EPs had caught attention, and their gigs had only built on that. They were booked to play some big shows, like Jack Antonoff’s and Jay-Z’s own curated festivals. They were signed to a major label. Then they pulled the plug. Now, they’re back with The Longer This Goes On, but the band themselves – they’re not back.
That’s the complex story that runs behind this record. The group met in high school, so the roots run deep. They’d been playing together for a long time when things started rapidly picking up, but that long-standing basis didn’t stop it from getting completely overwhelming. In the end, right before the exciting moments, 2018 was promising, but they called it off. They declared an indefinite hiatus, citing mental health issues in the band, but later hinted at some problems in their dynamic. And that was that for years.
The decision to make this third album, The Longer This Goes On, contextualises the whole record. After years of basically not talking at all, the group met up over coffee and talked it all out. The idea of making music was floated, and they agreed because they thought maybe no one cared anymore. After all those years, they thought the pressure was off and so they could create like it was, bringing the process back to basics and writing songs in the room together, hashing them out over rehearsals and jams, feeling like high school kids again.
This doesn’t feel like a third album because of that. By a third record, there’s usually the feeling of an identity or a brand in some way keeping a band hostage. There’s none of that here. Instead, the fun the group were having simply playing together again is audible, along with the chemistry built over their years as a unit. But beyond that, there is no strict sense of what it should be, and in the ease of it all, the removal of pressure created something that’s at once both effortless and electric.
It does feel like a third album in terms of capability, though. That lengthy break boosted all of them, either making them all better musicians or merely bringing them back with a fight to prove themselves as each member gives each track everything.
They’re saying this isn’t a comeback for the band, but maybe it is. We don’t know, they don’t even know, but for now, we can only enjoy this offering and maybe cross our fingers for more.
For fans of: A good old-fashioned indie band playing on the whole terrain.
A concluding comment from the band’s record label: “Sooooo…. Did you guys have fun? The kind of fun you might want to, I don’t know… repeat?”
The Longer This Goes On track by track
Release date: July 19th | Producer: Dan Howard | Label: SubPop
‘To Know Me / To Love Me’: An opener that wastes no time getting into the organic energy of this no-thinking, no-pressure record. [4/5]
‘Call You Back’: The melodies here are so fun and so foolproof in a way that is impossible to resist, and do the dancing for you. [3.5/5]
‘Honey’: While still being indie kids through and through, the years away from the band have clearly cast a wider net of influences for the group, as proved by this woozier track that meanders from shoegaze into a kind of western flick soundtrack energy. [4/5]
‘7 Months’: Excellent drums from Zach Lorelli, excellent vocals from Ava Trilling, and an excellent bassline from Noah Schifrin. All working at a ten and all working together, this track proves the worth of them crafting these songs together in a room this time round. [3.5/5]
‘Spit’: And we’re switching it up again, bringing in new textures. Without so much pressure on what they’d produce, the band’s adventuring here is so audible and makes it ten times more interesting. [3.5/5]
‘Springboard’: And that point is proved again here as the polish pauses a moment to let the listener into the room, reminding everyone of this album’s ethos of being a project built from play and only really for the purpose of play. [4/5]
‘Make Me’: These slower, sexier songs are another interesting texture added to the mix but still capture the album’s live energy, sounding like nothing more than a great band playing a great gig. [3.5/5]
‘Barnard’: There are so many killer riffs on this record, but the opening one here takes the trophy as the biggest and most electric. [4/5]
‘Bluff’: Packed with great builds and breaks, this is another one that undeniably benefits from the band getting in a room and working these tunes out in person. [3.5/5]
‘Don’t Go Looking’: Closing out a record with zero flops and zero skips, it’s another solid tune. [4/5]
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