the Rec – Queen City Sounds and Art

The Rec’s “Teenage Teardrops” is a Pop Requiem for the Loss of a Youthful Exuberance for Life

“Teenage Teardrops” begins with a hushed and stirring dynamic to frame a narrative about the ways youthful aspirations and ability to see possibilities and find meaning in simple things like, as mentioned early in the song, meaning on a seven inch record, can be leached from your psyche if you’re in an environment that doesn’t nourish the soul in even the simplest ways. “I can’t cry anymore” is such a simply lyric but in the context of the song it encapsulates having reached a point where you find yourself in a place geographically and/or emotionally where you have lost the ability to even mourn a situation that no longer serves you because you’ve given so much so freely without thinking about it. When you’re young you think you have infinite time and opportunity to do what you would like but even at a young age bleeding yourself dry for a lifestyle or a job or a relationship or for anything or anyone can catch up to you. Later in life that timeline shortens and this song acknowledges that reality of having moments of vitality feeling like youth and when you’re tapped out it can leave you feeling confused and devastated. The orchestral quality of the song with melancholic piano and synths driving the melody while husky vocals seem to dance and sway with the gently strummed guitar line and finely accented percussion suggests a cinematic quality and experience evocative of everyday experiences elevated to the mythic. After that fashion it is reminiscent of where XTC went with its own songwriting from the mid-80s onward and early solo Barry Adamson. Listen to “Teenage Teardrops” on Bandcamp and follow the Rec at the links provided.

The Rec on Facebook

“Hackney smack deal” is the Rec’s Public Service Announcement to the Roommates of People Who Might Have a Falling Out With Their Procurers of Elicit Substances

TheRec_HackneySmackDeal2_crop — the Rec “Hackney smack deal” cover (cropped)

Without making too much light of the situation, the Rec tell a true story of the negative fallout of drug use and the people with whom you share a dwelling on “Hackney smack deal.” In the group’s style of gritty yet playful vocals and a lively beat, the Rec describes a group of men who show up one day to collect money due regardless of whether the unlucky sod who answers the door is the person owing the debt. A synth like a lazy but insistent siren runs through the track along with a jangle of what sounds like metal trinkets and a pounding drum giving the whole song an intense but surreal energy. The chorus is delivered in a nearly casual manner, describing a terrifying encounter: “We want the smack or the cash, is what they said, we want the smack or the cash, with a crack to my head, we want the smack or the cash, now my mind is numb, we want the smack or the cash, with a heart like a bass drum.” Later we hear about a “punch to the eyeball” and “no friendly handshakes” and confusion about the whole situation until, in the end, our narrator figures out what is going on and tells us, “The moral of the story is know your mates, never trust a man with black spoons or paper plates.” Fans of Sleaford Mods and Pop Will Eat Itself will appreciate the way the Rec’s style in putting a harrowing story to a captivating beat. Listen to “Hackney smack deal” on Bandcamp and follow the Rec at the links provided.

therec1.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/therecOswestry

the Rec’s “(I don’t understand) town slang” is Humorous and Witty Example of the Adage “You Can Never Really Go Home”

theRec_IDontUnderstandTownSlang_cove2_crop — the Rec “(I don’t understand) town slang” cover (cropped)

When you’re away from where you grew up for a sufficiently long period of time and outside the contexts that reared you and on to something that makes more sense for the life you want or when circumstances force you onward, sometimes going back is an odd and alien experience because you’re forced to confront the fact that what is considered normal and acceptable is often contingent on context and not universal down to the local patois. UK group the Rec explores this phenomenon regarding the town in which they grew up, Oswestry in Shropshire located on the border between England and Wales, on the song “(I don’t understand) town slang.” The members of the band moved away from Oswestry in the 1980s and one can only imagine the culture shock when maybe you’ve been somewhere that isn’t trapped a little in the past or maybe a little culturally hermetic.

The story set to a dynamic beat with a surreal melody of shimmery synths and psychedelic keyboards like a post-punk song reminiscent of Sleaford Mods and its own vocal cadence and tone. The vocalist sings of having spent half a day driving to town and then crossing “the line into the alien zone” and running into blank expressions and thousand yard stares when he spoke because he wasn’t speaking in a way that made a lot of sense to the locals. Isn’t this his hometown? Then he escapes the situation and tries to find his brother’s place but getting lost and in fear of more encounters with people speaking “town slang,” some of which echoes in a chaotic, jumbled fashion that comes at you from all angles before the main melody of the song reasserts itself. The chorus about town slang making the singer feel “uncomfortable” might suggest some of this slang seems regressive the way some people use expressions and words so casually and unmindful that the rest of the world has moved on. The song ends with the singer relating how he went to the “taxi rank” to get some gas and then to drive as fast as possible to get to “a place that I can understand.” In a way the song is like a miniature horror story. Like the movie Get Out where you know something’s wrong but instead of the scenario in that movie it’s a culture you can no longer relate to and where you will never again fit in even if you try down to the local slang. It’s the classic you can never really go home story but told with a wry humor paired with a transporting electro post-punk melody that evolves throughout the song and on its own helps to keep your attention focused on the story and its mixing in keen local details and references. The song also seems to hint that sometimes you are stuck in that situation but aware that you don’t belong but the people in the Rec understand. Fans of the Happy Mondays and the aforementioned Sleaford Mods will find much to like here. Listen to the song below and follow the Rec at the links below.

(I don’t understand) town slang by the Rec

therec1.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/therecOswestry