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Imperial Leisure - Art Of Saying Nothing

Reviewed by Teenagekicks | 15/10/2008 - 12:19PM

Imperial Leisure kick of their album ‘Art of saying nothing’, out now, with an easy listening old school track designed, I hope, to be a future to be a single. ‘Untouchable’ is catchy, uplifting, and set to draw you in. It sets the bar for what’s to follow and for the most part you won’t be disappointed. Songs like ‘The Landlords Daughter’ and ‘First past the pump’ follow with the same fierce energy perfect for a night out. It’s easy to imagine these guys owning the stage in concert with ‘Man on the street’ being my favourite to kick things off. It grabs your attention right from the intro and holds you through a hectic whirlwind that will have you smiling and dancing.

Through songs like ‘Beast’ and ‘Sombrero’ the band show that they have no problems being themselves, and that who they are knows their stuff. Each song has a polished feel to it but you still get that fun feeling that says they enjoy what they play. Choosing to make one song purely instrumental (Sombrero) was a gutsy move and ‘Beast’ was, well, just plan mental. It’s a fun lover’s song designed for party animals and, like ‘Sombrero’, shows off the bands versatility. It has a great punk-rock like edge harder than most of the bands other songs and it is great to see their darker side. ‘In a letter’, although slightly softer, has the same quality.

Where the band start to hit a snag is when they mess around with tempo. Fast? No problem. Very fast? Great! Hard and fast? Why not?! Slow? Ummm…

I can see where the decision to slow it down during some of their songs comes from and respect what the band is trying to do. The songs just don’t capture you like Imperial Leisure’s more energetic work despite being full of all the intricacies the band seem to love like their saxophone solos, the scratching and the backing vocals. ‘Alperton’ and ‘Great British summer time’ are by no means bad songs standing out distinctly amongst the others. Imperial Leisure however are obviously a band built for speed.

Imperial Leisure seem to be fans of the tiny details and it’s the tiny details that make their songs so appealing. Each track is loaded with complex layers of scratching, instrumentals and backing vocals yet only once did that affect the ability to hear the lyrics. ‘Beast’ gets my ‘Most amusing intro’ award for its insane introduction and the chatter at the end of ‘Sombrero’ also amuses me. As some of their intros are rather alike it was good to hear one that stuck out as well as ‘Beast’. The band also aren’t afraid to impart their message on the world if they have something to say, ‘Beer Belly’, being a good example.

Overall the cheeky chaps of Imperial Leisure get the thumbs up for their use of instruments, catchy lyrics, and the hard work that goes into their vocals. They seem to understand how to blend the old with the new, how to use repetition effectively, and, how to make you feel like you’re having a good time. It’s worth checking out their faster songs first in order to get a real feel for the band but even their slow songs, though less quick to impress, have a certain charm. It’s hard to think of another band to compare Imperial Leisure too as they stamp themselves out as Imperial Leisure quite quickly and with good reason.

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