The debut release on the subsidiary of the distinguished soul label, Daptone Records falls at the feet of The Mystery Lights. To say they have been thrust under the spotlight with Wick Records is a horrendous understatement by all account. This is old news though that has been posted about time and time again, arguably becoming the sole point of sale for the band. In this instance, the novelty factor seems to be locking horns with musical quality of their debut single, ‘Follow Me Home’ so where does this leave the rest of the album?

Well, there is nothing like an ‘Intro’ to settle the nerves. A questionable intro to an album, to give this an entire track is valiant and instantly gives it a story-like motif – but why is it done? In a live setting it can make sense, it can a) settle nerves and b) set a bit of a scene for the show, provide a bit of a tablecloth for affairs, so to speak. When The xx did it on their debut, it was brave but it felt right as it actually posed a bit of character as a song in its own entity. When The Mystery Lights do it, it’s a very loose minute-long guitar track that, if amputated at a shorter position, would act as a fortuitous introduction to a song. To omit this may have been wiser.

‘Follow Me Home’ reveals itself as the second track in and from the off it’s clear that it poses all the single potential that a song needs and to release this first was wise. It has the yelled backing vocals that take the oral reigns through a wave of reverb and it is surrounded by droning organs, jangling guitar and steadfast drumming that moves in a serpentine manner underneath the groove. The Mystery Lights show on ‘Follow Me Home’ that they can jam pack songs full of groove and energy. Lyrically, it is a song that harks back to all the rock’n’roll theatrics of the past. It’s largely about sex and that is about it, it is the oldest tale of rock’n’roll, stalked closely by drugs so let’s all sit and ponder on that cliche once more: “I’m feeling nervous / Not as nervous as you / You and I both know / What we wanna do” – the fact there is an American comedy series about the phrase ‘sex, drugs, rock’n’roll’ suggests that it should probably be taken with an entire rock of salt. A pinch no longer does it justice and to lather the album in the theme is lyrical suicide. This is not to say there is no room for those conversations in music anymore, but when it scourges through the vast majority of an album – it becomes firstly a bit tired and secondly, just such a bloody obvious lyrical crutch.

This is the thing about The Mystery Lights debut that begins to emerge, it is a lot of rehashing of stereotypes and everything we were previously told, it does not really break free of the mould that was cast 50 years ago. There is something inherently lo-fi about the recording, something that harks way back to The Rolling Stones circa-December’s Children – it makes you question though, what the purpose of lo-fi is nowadays? What does it prove? At the time of the aforementioned Rolling Stones recording, lo-fi was an aesthetic that was there, more or less because it was unavoidable. Now, it adds an aesthetic that is supposed to give it an edgy throwback, retro sort of sound but on The Mystery Lights’ album, for example, does it find purpose, does it offer anything new? Has it just become a gimmick nowadays that is reproduced with no birth control as an easy excuse to try to break into a flourishing garage-rock market? Probably. Will it ever end? Hopefully. This is not necessarily the fault of The Mystery Lights, it is a trap that obsesses with the past, rather than manipulating it, it becomes more about copying it – The Mystery Lights are merely the latest victim.

It is not all doom and gloom though. The Mystery Lights can put emphasis and canny guitar work into their music, light fingered parts and hints of Americana. There are even glimmers of acts such as Creedance Clearwater and The Coasters at times. ’21 & Counting’ is a dead ringer for the likes of ‘Run Through The Jungle’ with its stammering guitar and heavily patted reverberated vocals. There is a cemented breath of rock’n’roll that trickles throughout the album but you could quite easily listen to the likes of The Sonics. ‘Before My Own’ gets as close to this sound as ever, it is as gutter dragged as they come. Literally pulled, kicking and screaming through the back alleys of Manhattan’s dishevelled suburbs, it wreaks of grime and muck, it makes for a great tribute though. The guitars are covered in fuzz to the point where they almost become inaudible. ‘Before My Own’ stands as the most progressive piece of songwriting that the five-piece present. Chops and changes in tempo give another dimension to their sound, showing glimmers of promise but as it stands as the second to last track on the LP, it feels slightly too late.

‘Too Many Girls’ is another throwback to circles of 60s rock’n’roll, not the most inventive of tracks but certainly one that poses a hook – it is testament to the fact that The Mystery Lights can write a solid pop, rock’n’roll number. ‘Without Me’ is a slightly more gentle number, opting for the succinct comparisons to the likes of The Lovin’ Spoonful, it finds Mike Brandon making a crystal clear study of his ongoing strife in relationships. ‘Melt’ is about as raucous as the album gets. Strip back the reverb slightly and it’s the type that could fit on Kings Of Leon’s Youth and Young Manhood, it is riddled with youth angst, passion and spite – as Brandon yells: “How do you hate me now? / How do you hate me now?” It suddenly emerges that there perhaps is a little more to The Mystery Lights than they have actually let on. Fuelled by a new flavour of punk rock’n’roll, guitars squall around Brandon’s lamenting comments and, in honesty, it knocks you back slightly as a listener giving you a poke in the eye. It feels as if the exorcism of The Mystery Lights is lying around the corner somewhat, it needs digging out but there is something honest about the group besides a regurgitation of the past.

Whereas some critics may obsess with how they have nailed that scuzzy, 60s garage sound, surely this is the point. They have nailed it but what on Earth does that offer? Where the album gets remotely interesting is within its melodies and the promise of something more than 60s obsessed mania. To find the silver lining within this LP is that it will be opening the eyes of the contemporary youth to a selection 60s nuggets that may have whistled by had The Mystery Lights not highlighted each and everyone through their debut. Unfortunately though, 90% of the tracks on the album can be aligned with another band that did it first. The analogue recording process that Daptone swear by has not necessarily done the band any favours in this light as it could be placed 50 years ago and nobody would be able to tell much difference. It’s quite rare that I say this but perhaps a cleansing would have been more appropriate in this occasion, in order to seek for that slice of originality.
Tom Churchill

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