Uranium Club – ‘Infants Under the Bulb’ album review: all dancefloor filler, no killer
THE SKINNY: Some records are extremely hard to review. Great LPs are easy; they are obviously a simple vomit of superlatives, and even bad releases are easy enough to add thoughts to. It is albums like Uranium Club‘s Infants Under the Bulb that pose the most difficult challenge, simply because the album can be summed up with one extremely unsatisfying, almost-grating sentence: if you like one song, you’ll enjoy the album.
It is a record bristling with energy, and it delivers a whole heap of art-punk bounce, complete with the spoken word vocals that seem to litter the scene. Aside from the story about a wall, which can feel like genuine, heartfelt, crystalline poetry amid the mucky dancefloor filler of the LP, the record provides exactly what you’d expect from Uranium Club. The problem is that is almost all it provides.
Poetry aside, there is so much similarity to the tracks that it is hard to tell when one ends and another begins. Stylistically, it rarely moves from the band’s safe space, and, in reverting away from musical evolution, it hardly moves the needle for a casual listener’s enjoyment. Add this to the contradictory feeling of a punk ethos mixing with pointed theatricality – some moments feel akin to glee club candour – and it was hard to escape a feeling of tedium.
Of course, it must be said that if when you drop the needle on the record’s opening number, ‘Small Grey Man’ and enjoy the spoken word laid on top of the chugging rhythm, then you will most certainly love the rest of the record. But I felt like I had stumbled in on the naughty corner of the musical theatre camp as I plodded through, which was a feeling I struggled to shake, and the slap of divergence never arrived that might’ve helped me see things differently.
For fans of: Filling your own personal dancefloor with a shimmy and a beat that few will forget.
A concluding comment from my neighbour: “Have you been playing that song on repeat for an hour?”
Infants Under the Bulb track by track:
‘Small Grey Man’: Spoken word diatribes are the vocal du jour, and Uranium Club add in their own version of the tired style. The song seems to simply chug along behind the theatrics in the extra-terrestrial lyrics. [2/5]
‘Viewers Like You’: Things start to move along with a little more gusto with the introduction of the second track. More purpose and far less kooky behaviour mean the band’s art punk angles, complemented by a shining brass blast, are given a little more room to pierce the airwaves. [2.5/5]
‘Game Show’: Having one’s own style is always helpful when trying to push across a message. As ‘Game Show’ arrives, however, it’s hard to tell whether this is simply the outro of ‘Viewers Like You’. Tempo and technology remain the same, and aside from the odd surf-rock adjacent breakdown, the track acts simply as a piece of background dancefloor filler. [2.5/5]
‘The Wall pts 1&2’: A breath away from the uniformed idiosyncrasy, and a fine piece of poetry is a moment of joyful refrain. The first instalment of the story that runs through the record, its resplendent sounds and candour are perhaps the finest moments on the LP. [3/5]
‘Tokyo Paris L.A. Milan’: What seems like a tale of touring artists is a rather tired topic. However, Uranium Club bring a little vigour into the number as the motor finally gets running, with genuine emotion breaking through the curtains. [3/5]
‘The Wall pt.3’: Another instalment of our story lands like your favourite podcast. Still charming and still worth listening to. Even if it isn’t really a song. [3/5]
‘2-600-LULLABY’: It’s hard not to draw comparisons with Parquet Courts when listening to Infants Under The Bulb, but the difference is clear in songs like ‘2-600-LULLABY’. Uranium Club are far more concerned with the 1950s rockabilly influences and bring out a jumping rhythm and tinge it with darkness. [3/5]
‘Abandoned By The Narrator’: Drums slam as the temperature is raised once more. A two-minute punk song built for sniggering areas of an exclusive scene, there are some foot-stomping moments worth celebrating and a uniquely placed drum solo. [2.5/5]
‘The Ascent’: There’s a different motion to ‘The Ascent’ that not only replicates the title of the track but gives it freshness among the other songs on the LP. Heavy bass and the odd six-string inflexion add some genuine interest. [2.5/5]
‘Big Guitar Jack Off In The Sky’: If you’re at this point of the record without the use of shuffle, then there is a very high chance that Uranium Club’s art-punk bounce is of sincere importance to you. ‘Big Guitar Jack Off In The Sky’ is another version of the songs you’ve already heard. While cementing a style is important, there is a moment when such foundations will weigh you down. [2/5]
‘The Wall pt.4′: The final edition of our story is another genuinely wonderful segment that deserves waiting for. [3/5]
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