On their not-so-difficult second album Alien Human Emotions Essex boys Asylums tackle topics far more meaty than their sunshine hooks and glistening melodies seem to suggest. Kicking on from debut Killer Brain Waves, the band ramp up the E-numbers on a record with more hooks than a fisherman’s kitbag.
Anthemic lead single ‘When We Wake Up’ channels the sugar-rush Britrock energy of Ash into a joyful fist-pumper, the festival-warm cider and black of the record, while psychedelic opener ‘Day Release to the Moon’ swirls like someone slipped something into the Kool-Aid; but although musically it is almost unbridled joy, there is something vaguely unsettling about the refrain of “we need a brand new planet, somewhere to abuse”, introducing from the off a certain weight to the songs which sets them somewhat apart from other acts ploughing a similar furrow.
The macabre overtones of ‘Graveyard Tourism’ tap into this to cast a gratifying shadow on the otherwise vibrant riffage but elsewhere the band double down on the heavier side of their sound, courting high-octane punk on the breakneck ‘Bottle Bank’ and snarling through the chaotic ‘Napalm Bubblegum’.
There is no doubting this is an album built on ideology, and although at times it can be a little hard to pick out the actual meanings – ‘Homeowners’ Guilt’ is a little obscure, although it boasts one of the biggest choruses on album so there’s no complaints here – the overall mood is one of frustration. Whether that is refracted through raging against the machine with balled fists against wire fences or takes an entirely bleaker tone (best shown on withdrawn closer ‘The Company You Keep’) Asylums know what they want, they know how to get it and they know just how much sugar to add to the kerosene.
Words - Joe Ponting
Alien Human Emotions is out Friday July 7th on Cool Thing Records