Spring King - Tell Me If You Like To (Deluxe Edition) (2016)

Lowe deserves a lot of credit, then, as he used the opportunity to kickstart the career of unsigned Mancunian smalltimers Spring King, by inaugurating the station with their track “City”. What followed, understandably, was mass exposure for the band, resulting in unprecedented blog hype and a major label feeding frenzy. Eventually, the four-piece signed to Island Records - a division of the Universal Music Group - and their debut album Tell Me If You Like To comes as everything you’d expect from a buzzed major label release - it’s catchy, consistent and conformable.

Given the heights it’s taken them to, it’s only fitting that breakthrough single “City” should open the new album - and a new chapter - for the band. The track was also used as an opener on last year’s They’re Coming After You EP, but whereas that five-track release was a statement of intent from a band pushing their abilities to the max in order to put themselves on the map, Tell Me… is the sound of a band conformable with their current position in the industry - no risks are taken, leaving the end product feeling predictable, half-hearted and, occasionally, rushed. Perhaps they’ve been told to promptly release an album that can capitalise (cash in) on the peak of the hype surrounding them, or maybe it’s just the sound of a band making music as a job rather than as a dream - there’s no pressure to push themselves, because they’re still going to have a nice meal and a comfy bed at the end of the day. But, either way, Spring King have gone from the most buzzed about unsigned band to another group of middle-of-the-road major label puppets.

TRACKLIST

01. City
02. Detroit
03. Who Are You?
04. Its So Dark
05. Take Me Away
06. Demons
07. Rectifier
08. Tell Me If You Like To
09. The Summer
10. Heaven
11. Lets Ride
12. Better Man
13. Mumma
14. Theyre Coming After You
15. Lets Ride (Live)
16. Better Man (Live)