Everyone needs something to get them noticed these days, don’t they? Intelligent young Dubliners THE IMMEDIATE sussed this out from the off, as their earliest gigs took place in a local church, while they cut out the middle man and – instead of blindly blamming demos off to bored A&R departments – proceeded to lob CDS of their early recordings at musicians they admired while they were onstage. If you’re wondering who these may be, the likes of Nicky Wire and Beck have been on the receiving ends of such surface to air missiles.
All good for a laugh and a few local column inches, but when it comes to making your debut album, you still need to produce the goods and – with expert guidance from respected US producer Chris Shaw (Wilco, Super Furry Animals, Bob Dylan, Public Enemy) – The Immediate have proved their mettle on “In Towers And Clouds.” They describe their music as being “for anyone who has ever felt apart from the crowd, that’s about as specific as we can be”, before suggesting we go ahead and listen, which is indeed sound advice in this case.
Comprising David Hedderman (vocals/ guitar/ bass), Conor O’Brien (vocals/ guitar/ bass), Peter Toomey (vocals/ drums/ bass) and Barra Heavey (keyboards/ guitar/ bass/ drums), The Immediate are a talented bunch of young beggars who flirt with angularity, aggressive indie guitars and shoegaze-y soundscapes without ever flying directly into the safety of obvious sonic pigeonholes. All four apparently contribute pretty even quotas (note all four members’ ease in swapping instruments), but crucially the plot is never lost due to unwanted virtuosity.
Opener “Aspects” gives you some idea of the pull of The Immediate’s marvellously enigmatic muse. Initially dreamy and shoegaze-y, then becoming insistent and angular of riff, it’s always edgy, sharp and strident with guitars going from percussive’n’cheesewire through to dreamy’n’floaty within seconds. It’s a great start, and soon followed up by the fluid, elastic basslines and Josef K-style urgency of the ensuing “Lonely: Locked Up” which shows that while The Immediate have absorbed much of the best of the past 25 years, they have a creative Houdini Act or two of their own up their collective sleeve.
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Indeed, while “In Towers And Clouds” certainly sounds contemporary enough, it’s usually the ghosts of influences past who flit by while The Immediate play. The introductory guitar figures on “Fashion Or Faith”, for example, recall The Durutti Column’s “The Missing Boy”, while the overheating lead vocals on the scurrying “Don’t You Ever” find David Byrne springing to mind before the band unleash a great chorus that could almost be described as ‘anthemic’ when the wind prevails correctly.
Mostly, though, The Immediate simply sound like they have lots of possibilities of their own. The excellent, niggly new single “Stop And Remember”, for example is proud and exciting even though the lyrics (“and if you’ve ever kept a million faces to use as you please, then you’ll know what what I mean”) seem wracked with tangible doubt. “Big Sad Eyes”, meanwhile, is almost languid by The Immediate’s standards before unleashing an unexpected (and quite lovely) fanfare trumpet, while the prize for this writer’s favourite track would probably go to the marvellous “A Ghost In This House” where love and a murky, noir-ish plot sift through the charred, emotional remains. It’s drenched in atmosphere and once again shows us that there’s still plenty of room for young lads to weave familiar-yet-different shapes from rock’s ether, providing they’re crafted with intelligence and feeling.
The Immediate, then, are accomplished young contenders on the block. Their unorthodox methods helped to set them apart from the word go and they have held their nerve to translate this into something thrilling and elusive with “In Towers And Clouds.” The very least we can do is sign up for the ride and see where they take us from here.
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