As It Is, Never Happy, Ever After. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Brighton has many attractions to it, so many special unique features and a way of life that marks it out as perhaps the most bohemian place, alongside Whitby, in Britain. It may not have the grandeur afforded it as Edinburgh nestles in, the history that London shamelessly parades, the industry that Birmingham gave the world or the humour and culture that Liverpool rightly is rightly proud of, but Brighton is something else entirely, it has meaning of all of its own and its exceptional appeal marks out as striving to have all the qualities that Edinburgh, Liverpool and London offer, but on a smaller, but nonetheless important scale.

From out of that distinct flavour has come many a band that has added to the unique feel of the matchless place on the south coast, some greats, some also-rans, some that have disappeared regretfully without a trace, for the remains, it might be a case of Never Happy, Ever After.

As It Is’ debut album, Never Happy, Ever After is a journey down Punk-Pop’s memory lane, a scooter ride across the south-downs, the pleasant rolling hills, the dirty looks from Pinkie the wanna-be gangster staring back with malice and youthful exuberance, the tarnished, decaying relics of a great holiday past and the confidence that its future holds. That journey, started so many years ago when Brighton became synonymous with the clash of cultures, of ideals and disrespect holds fast in the album and whist on the whole, it might seem just a little tame, it is that nod to gentility, the focus of being unique, that hold the album together well.

Never Happy, Ever After has that golden touch that allows you to be drawn in, to make you believe you can part of the sub culture’s offspring but in which you know deep down underneath the thought of comedic jokes from yesteryear, from the battered twisted remains of the irreplaceable and the blood stained windows of the neglected and impoverished, you can only ever stand on the periphery, that this is a fight you can take part in but belongs exclusively to someone else. It is that the odd agreement between Punk and Pop, the sub culture and the steady and reliable that makes it a heady mix to be entangled amongst.

Tracks such as Drowning Deep In Doubt, My Oceans Were Lakes, the very cool Silence (Pretending’s So Comfortable) and Can’t Save Myself add to that mystery, that shackling of chains but freedom gained within seconds feel, the boot kicking out and being comforted by the afflicted, As It Is have done the impossible, they have raged but soothed at the same time, the marriage between popular and punk perhaps never been so well drawn.

A very good debut from a band that typifies the area they come from, one that is steeped in its traditions but willing to burn it down if necessary.

Ian D. Hall