The Grit and The Polish, The Oomph and The Swoon: The Everlasting Yeah – “Anima Rising”

It’s quite incredible to think that almost 30 years on from picking my copy of “Manic Pop Thrill” up in Liverpool that I’m writing about something as fresh and energetic as “Anima Rising.”

Before we get on to what The Everlasting Yeah are, let’s sort out what they’re not. They’re not That Petrol Emotion. After Steve Mack, the Petrol’s vocalist headed back to the States, the four remaining members of the band’s final line up got together almost four years ago for an acoustic gig at the Lord Clyde on the Essex Road in North London. Whilst it was early days, it was evident that there was the kernel of something new and different from what had gone before.

The band pretty immediately went electric and honed their set and sound via a series of gigs around London and out to Oxford and Glasgow. I’ve been lucky enough to attend all of the London gigs and incrementally the excitement and buzz around the band has grown. They played a particularly wonderful gig at the Roundhouse Studios which attracted fans from around Europe. It was incredibly sweet to see just how much these musicians meant to so many people first hand. Heaven knows how much was spent getting to that particular gig by the crowd but none would resent a penny or a euro of it.

It was therefore with great pleasure that a fully fledged album is available, initially via a crowd funded venture last year and now via Occultation Recordings.

Recorded in South London in an impressively swift manner, the album captures the immediacy of the live shows. Whilst it’s brash and ballsy, there are no loudness wars here. This is well engineered and thoughtfully created music. Everything is in it’s place and there’s a place for everything. That’s not to say the record is overly polite. It’s just the elements that form it are as clear as crystal.

This is punchy stuff. I’ve always maintained that it is harder to come up with up tempo material than the slower stuff. Six of the seven tracks have a real vigour about them. The rhythm section of Ciaran (drums) and Brendan (bass) are supple and fluid. Raymond and Damian’s guitars lock into the groove. Think Television. Think Wilco. Think Neu.

Vocals are split between the guys. This reinforces the sense of the collective with harmonies abounding. Terry Edwards of Gallon Drunk joins the band for the last track on side one, “Taking That Damn Train Again” (see, it works perfectly on vinyl). The band stretch out too, much more than the Petrol’s ever did. There are just seven tracks but nothing drags. Maybe this is the beauty of being their own bosses but it gives the material space to breath and develop.

I’ve posted a link to the opening track, “A Little Bit Of Uh-Huh & A Whole Lotta Oh Yeah” below. This is the band’s ultimate ear worm, it hooks you into the album and shows just how immediate this material is.

There’s been plenty of radio interest in the venture particularly in London and Ireland, with Raymond being interviewed only recently on Resonance FM. Even the national press have picked the album with a positive review in this week’s Independent on Sunday.

It’s clear from the coverage that the band are particularly proud of the album, considering it some of the best stuff they’ve put their names to. That’s a pretty high bar, given their careers to date.

The album is available from Occultation Recordings here. I think there are still some lovely red vinyl copies still available if you move quickly. It deserves to be heard by a wider audience. I know the band are planning some more shows. If they do, keep in touch via their Facebook page and make damn sure that you catch them.