Manchester’s Spangled are back with their new single ‘That Farm In Dunham’. Produced and mixed by Gareth Nuttall, it follows their riotous double a-side ‘Underpants’ and ‘Charlie Hills’. Can it match up?
(*banner image courtesy of Owen Peters Photography)
Last time out, Spangled showed their teeth on the Art Brut via early Blur and Dinghus Khan on their punk rock singles. ‘That Farm In Dunham’ slots back into ‘Good Life Better’ anthem mode. Jamie Halliday’s slow-building guitars are tinged with otherworldly psychedelia which allows frontman Ben Johnson to lay bare his soul.
Despite the change in sonic, Spangled still serve up astute observations and a great narrative lyrically on this tale of unrequited love. Johnson’s vocal is blessed with fragile, boisterous, and angst-ridden moments, the perfect blend for reliving teenage boys’ dreams of being Freddy and Effy but falling closer to Cook’s despair and JJ’s lost sense of reality.
The expansive sound has headline act oozing from its blood. It’s the sound of a band with one hand on their destiny and the pushing at end of the galaxy to make things bigger. This colossal ambition coupled with Johnson’s diary entry honesty lyrically are marrying the excess of rock music to incisive punk for the first time in a generation.
Asking whether ‘That Farm In Dunham’ matches up to the previous double a-side is in fact the wrong question. The two are interloping pieces of art and rock ‘n’ roll serving one another. The double a-side was the eye of the storm, ‘That Farm In Dunham’ is a celestial cloud to recover from it on.
Click the image below for Spangled tickets in London next month:
