Real Terms – Vantage
Release Date: 24th February 2023
Label: Sofa Boy Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Math-Rock, Pop Rock, Experimental, Alt Pop.
FFO: Dirty Projectors, Don Caballero, Adebisi Shank, Tera Melos, Hot Chip.
Review By: John Newlands
Vantage is the debut release for Liverpudlian math-pop\rock trio Real Terms. The band reformed from a previous project with the aim to take elements of math-rock and include some pop sensibilities with catchy hooks and melodies and traditional pop song structure. I can confirm, they succeeded!
The band released their first EP (Housework) in 2020 and since then have been working on Vantage, building up presence on the live scene, sharing the stage with bands such as Tera Melos, TTNG, Delta Sleep and A Burial At Sea.
Vantage starts off with Improve, a lovely wee short track that makes great use of vocal harmonies (the vocals on this release remind me of Hot Chip at points) backed by a reverse delay and a rather cool granular glitchy effect on the guitar. Midpoint in the track the drums and bass in kick in adding some pace and weight to the track and sets the tone for the album going forward.
Improve is followed up with Kite, perhaps one of my favourite tracks on the album. Again, strong, super catchy vocal harmony with a great chorus. The guitar riff reminded me of Pure Morning by Placebo, but not so close I’d say it’s a rip off.
Track 3, Veil Is Thinner, is another catchy number that makes great use of vocal harmony, off timber tempos and some interesting percussion and guitar effects. The following tracks, A Wall Of Milk and Absentee, are the longest offerings on Vantage. Although slightly longer in length, the tracks are in no way boring with great use again of vocal harmony and textures provided by the guitars, bass and percussion and even some saxophone in Absentee.
Frantically Wrong is the lead single from Vantage, and I can understand why the band chose this one. It is an earworm, a big fat juicy earworm. I’ve found myself humming the tune over the last few weeks while washing the dishes, picking up the kids from nursery or sitting at the doctor’s office. It’s the most straightforward track on the album, it doesn’t do anything too fancy instrumentally, but it doesn’t need to. Why would it need to, it’s a damn good pop rock song!
The band follows up with Weird Arcs, a more math-rock number with distorted syncopated drum beats and disjointed, staccato guitar phrases. It’s an interesting contrast to the previous track as it isn’t so conventional, but it’s nice to see that Real Terms aren’t afraid to only offer us something a little more difficult to digest.
Half Alive is a bit of a change of pace for Vantage, it’s perhaps one of the more down tempo tracks. The band still manages to deliver catchy vocal melodies, surrounded by more of the disjointed staccato math-rock guitar riffs and a healthy dose of cowbell (or is it wood block?) from the outset.
Track 9 A fading Picture, dials back on the “math” elements and leans more to the pop/ rock sensibilities found elsewhere on the album, it’s in no way a bad track but perhaps one of the less catchy and thus less memorable of the release.
Second to last, Impose, is basically a 2 min tee-up for the album closer Cacophony, another solid track, but I must admit, feels a little bit of a let-down. I wanted the track to let go, blow out and go full on experimental, math-rock freakout, but instead it holds restraint before fishing abruptly.
I think that would possibly be my only negative critique of the album as a whole, it in some ways feels restrained. I wonder if this is on purpose, to fit in with the blueprint of leaning into pop song sensibilities. However, I have some occasions wished that the band let go, went a bit mad or made more use of dynamics to fully rock out or go experimental.
In conclusion, this is a great wee listen, maybe my favourite non-metal release of 2023 so far. It’s a very well put together, light-hearted, uplifting and incredibly catchy album. Real Terms do well at leaning into pop sensibilities while also maintaining credibility within the indie experimental, math-rock scene.
I definitely see this one getting more play throughout 2023 as a breath of fresh air in-between the heavier stuff I listen to and look forward to the end of Norwegian winter as I think this album will really complement a warm (if I’m lucky), bright, sunny day.
(4 / 5)
