“Not everyone grows up to be an astronaut / Not everyone was born to be a king / Not everyone can be, Freddy Mercury......but on the day die I'll say at least I fucking tried”
Eulogy, Frank Turner, 2011
Four albums in, Kent's Theatre Royal are well established without being, well established. They have honed a Go-Betweens via the classic Medway of their forefathers. Their back catalogue is littered with “should have been” alternative pop singles. Alas, it hasn't happened.
Undeterred, the Medway boys are back and at it again with their new double a-side. 'All Fall Forward' chronicles theirs and, many other bands plight at present. The lack of chance and backing available, their discourse of “takes us nowhere / nowhere fast” seems all the more resounding.
'Better Say Goodbye' has a directness and an effortless that newcomers will undoubtedly say “haven't heard tunes like this for a while”. Whilst the sun still shines, the free flowing guitars allow for that extra spring in the step.
Both tracks fleeting and light of touch, the romance of Kerouac's 'On The Road' is almost tangible. The underdogs capture his yearning for something meaningful in this life. Their quest, for now, is beset with the tragedy of almost but not quite. With John Kennedy and Steve Lamacq onside, that breakthrough is surely imminent.