Bad Touch
Bittersweet Satisfaction
The Pavlovian gag reflex elicited by bands describing themselves along the lines of a “feel-good, good-time rock ‘n’ roll band” is something that they really need to become aware of. Because, although it might not seem like it, there’s a difference between that, and being fun. Fun implies life and exuberance; being ‘feel-good’ and ‘good-time’ suggests an assemblage of classic-rock tropes into a pale shadow of the originators who could perhaps make them work. At least Bas Touch sound as though they’re actually enjoying themselves with it, which shouldn’t be a distinction needed to sell them on, but here we are. It says most about how narrow a window this sort of thing has to work, of which Bittersweet Satisfaction itself isn’t immune to falling outside of.
It does get kind of exasperating to go through, not in the least because it’s yet another example of classic rock interchangeability running headlong with a lack of any captivating stakes. The whole ‘old-school love song’ template has been thoroughly rinsed by now, and though Bad Touch are less lascivious than some of the worst offenders, it’s a minor concession at best. Probably the standout example of how enormously diminished said stakes are, though, is Nothing Wrong With That, in which frontman Stevie Westwood is fully aware of the crises and injustices in the world around him, but would rather tune them out and make music to (hopefully) unite rather than divide. Perhaps it’s asking a bit much for a band like this be completely engaged with politics, but it really only exemplifies how insulated in their own nostalgia bubble that Bad Touch are, and how far down the ladder of real vitality it places them. It’s—to jump on the most obvious quip imaginable—a bad touch.
And yet, it’s not enough to fuel any true ire towards them. It’s a totally expected stance, and one that’s no worse than anyone else who’ll wilfully forgo anything deeper in their music. The ‘good-time rock ‘n’ roll’ spirit’ simply isn’t built to accommodate that, as shown in Bad Touch effectively serving as another vehicle to push out rock music that’s existed in this exact state for about half a century. Perhaps there’s a bit more modern polish to buff out the dents, but otherwise, the sources aren’t hard to pinpoint. This Life is a shameless AC/DC riff; Tonight is as regular as blues-rock comes; Come Back At It Again is your standardly wistful heartland ballad. At least it’s not completely without its moments—the bassline on Taste This is actually really strong in its litheness, and Westwood’s voice has the craggy, Americanised quality that’s often a good fit for this sort of thing, like if Chris Stapleton tried his hand at being a golden-oldie belter.
If that’s the exact thing you’re looking for (like, the exact thing, with no room for deviation), then Bittersweet Satisfaction can at least deliver. But it also raises the question of, when there’s already so, so much exactly like this, why would you turn to Bad Touch specifically? They’re no better and seldom worse than a huge quotient of their throwback contemporaries; they merely occupy another seat in the anachronistic dead zone of contemporary classic rock, with little to speak of in terms of unique abilities or features. Sure, it’s fine, but you need to be a lot more than that to really hit the buttons you want in this scene. You’d think that bands would’ve learned that by now.
For fans of: The Answer, AC/DC, Blackwater Conspiracy
‘Bittersweet Satisfaction’ by Bad Touch is released on 8th December on Marshall Records.
ERASE THEORY
The Good Kind
In some ways, this can feel like the proper beginning of ERASE THEORY. It’s not just because Jeff Sahyoun only kicked off his post-letlive. project at the start of this year, either; The Good Kind is the more substantial building work going on on the previously-laid foundations. Comparing the two certainly illuminates that viewpoint, when this is coming from a debut whose arranging of electronic rock and alt-pop was more a proof of concept on the whole. The Good Kind, on the other hand, is much more certain of itself, and especially of its ambitions. It’s the natural pipeline to go through for someone like Sahyoun, who returned to education and ‘normal’ work following letlive.’s split, in a way that would make someone excited to make music on the cutting edge of its scene.
The Good Kind subsequently feels like a conscious effort to spread his wings further into rock’s high-up hyper-modernity, home of such unit-shifters as Bring Me The Horizon and Bad Omens. That’s all while acknowledging a smaller, homegrown feel where the ceiling-shattering might is less prevalent, though no less admirable in the effort. The likes of Taking A Beat and So They Say shoot for the stars regardless, in a more pop-centric permutation of the wall-of-sound fundamentals. They’re joined by the hollowed synths and industrial clank of Man Overboard and the jabs of nu-metal guitar on The Subtitled, in Sahyoun’s efforts to really fill each corner of the scene he’s trying to fit into.
It’s all exceptionally competent in its craft, even if Sahyoun’s vocal performance might not have the abject might to stack up with the heaviest hitters. That’s a concession made towards The Good Kind’s overall smaller reach, though one that yields a different version of this style as opposed to a lesser one. Yes, the roar-along aspect is missed, but there’s enough tangible emotion to flood into the gaps. There’s actually a really strong core of earnestness in how Sahyoun’s sells his work, something that can often be missed among the bulletproof layers of artifice that ERASE THEORY seems to be doing away with. Even with it being this slickly, perfectly produced, the human element hasn’t been sacrificed for it, and that’s genuinely nice to see.
When you average all of it out…okay, sure, the heights of someone like Bring Me The Horizon at their best aren’t being challenged, but neither are the lows of an overworked, underfed post-hardcore project reliant on stylism alone. The Good Life isn’t even in eyeshot of that; it really does feel created out of personal intent and passion, and that shows up for the most part. Sahyoun continues to pull out some cool work from what can usually feel like a rinse-and-repeat scene, and that’s definitely worth appreciating.
For fans of: Bring Me The Horizon, Normandie, The Word Alive
‘The Good Kind’ by ERASE THEORY is out now on Icons Creating Evil Art.
Felicette
Go To Hell
As another product of the incestuous creative hotbed of UK indie-punk, you’ll have a good idea of what Felicette sound like from the start. Taking a look at who’s involved—alumni of Doe, cheerbleederz, Supermilk et al—you’ll have an even better one. And sure, that speaks to the rather fixed standard the scene has implemented basically since inception, but also how a melding of homespun scale and collaborative mindset looks to widen the tapestry rather than diversify it. And that can be useful in itself, if only because Felicette can illustrate how uniformly, often unwaveringly solid this can be, even at its very base level.
And besides, it’s not like Go To Hell could be aiming vastly higher at this stage, as a debut EP comprised of four songs, in which the ramshackle, ‘90s-flavoured ends of indie-rock colour neatly within the lines. Guitars are rickety and shabby but with considerable warmth, alongside an expectedly solid rhythm section, both in its quality and the general feel of keeping everything ticking along. Admittedly, the vocals suffer a bit more from the roughshod presentation when they’re more sunken and less rounded out, but that’s also kind of par for the course here. Both Sophie MacKenzie and Rose Asprey carry the slighter vocal performance synonymous with the scene, and it’s as fit for purpose here as any other time.
Of course, that’s kind of the blanket statement that encompasses Go To Hell in its entirety—for what it’s doing, it does it well enough. The ‘supergroup’ tag would be too highfalutin anyway, but it would feel more wrong to paste it on when that’s clearly not the ambition fielded here. Felicette’s output prioritises comfort in what it does, even down to subject matter that wouldn’t be at all out of place from any of the other grab-bag of indie-punk stalwarts. That’s not a criticism either; if anything, the aforementioned solidness finds footing in just how well-versed Felicette are in articulating these themes. From the broader-reaching Small Man Big Ideas and its addressing of men never held accountable for their actions, to more insular vignettes of friendship and relationship dissolution on the title track and Helen, it’s all brought out with extreme competence from top to bottom.
And that’s really all that’s expected, to be honest. It’s not like Felicette have ever touted themselves as proponents of a bold new frontier for indie-rock, nor does it feel like they want to be. It’s the very definition of a low-stakes, high-reward project, and diving headlong into that as they have can be respected. After all, it’s a fairly clean carryover in terms of quality from their bevy of associated acts, serving as another name for the pile of quietly strong indie-punk that’s never been lacking for growth. For the savants clamouring to snap up every morsel of material this scene produces, Felicette are a perfect new treat of the same flavour to indulge in.
For fans of: Happy Accidents, cheerbleederz, Snail Mail
‘Go To Hell’ by Felicette is released on 5th December on Everything Sucks Music.
Words by Luke Nuttall
