Jack Ames (drums/vocals), Maisie Cater (vocals/guitar), Dan Godfrey (guitar/vocals) and Harry Mitchell (bass) are the quartet that make up Norwich Indie, emo, D I Y outfit SUDS. They`ve recently released their debut album `The Great Overgrowth` on which they drew inspiration from Midwest emo and the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene – a place they would regularly distract themselves while writing, gazing between the pages of books by Woody Guthrie, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan and Brontez Purnell.
We are introduced to the album via the gentle `A Terrible Thing` a delicately balanced quite captivating number with a nice offset on the vocal harmonies as the song progresses. A track that appears to be about insecurity in a relationship. The piece does gain an upturn in both volume and assertiveness right at the climax. There`s a much faster pace to `Changing` which deals with a transformation within an individual and the recognition of that inner growth.
There`s a kind of melancholic reminiscence about `Hard For Me` which is about looking back on past relationships and realising that all was not as it seemed. I felt there was a kind of head rush about `Freckle` which motored along with an almost stream of conciseness that maybe addressed the conclusion of a romance.
`Paint My Body` is a further rhythmic exaltation where the narrator appears to be in an unreciprocated relationship which may be judged adversely by friends, so they avoid them rather than accepting the seemingly reasonable criticism. The positive aspects of what may well be an ex-partner are extolled in `Gone For Good` a dreamy quite thoughtful and introspective composition.
`Howl` is a stripped back reflection on lost love with just a strummed guitar and a pained absorbed vocal delivery. Title track `The Great Overgrowth` returns to a brisker melodic pace with lyrics that appraise the positive and uplifting benefits of a trip into the great wide open, even though the participant fails to realise it.
`Overgrown` is possibly a metaphorical musing on a place that is overgrown with how the narrator was doing fine flying solo but seems to be overrun in their current relationship. A fairly intensive listen.
I read that SUDS have said of their debut album `The Great Overgrowth` details the subsequent chapter – navigating through their close and interconnected circle of friends in their twenties and wading through the challenges, uncertainties, and harsh realisations of maturing before warmly learning to embrace these new changes. This probably sums it up better than I can.
It`s an album of numbers that move from a faster melodic pace to a slower melodic pace without losing any of the lyrical passion. A release that runs at under thirty minutes which is enough for me to return to without setting aside a lot of time.
Rating 8.5 /10
