The Geordies are back at it again, with Demob Happy’s latest album, The Grown-Ups Are Talking. The album features the trademark ferocity that we expect from the trio, but is far more introspective and personal compared to their previous records. Matthew Marcantonio, Adam Godfrey, and Thomas Armstrong are at the top of their game in The Grown-Ups Are Talking, and the album is another brilliant addition to their strong catalogue.
Opening up the album are two of The Grown-Ups Are Talking’s singles, ‘Power Games’ and ‘No Man Left Behind’. The bedrock of Demob Happy’s sound remains firm in these opening tracks, marking a welcome return to their Dream Soda days, yet infused with experience and reflection, particularly in the lyrics. Though ‘No Man Left Behind’ addresses the shockingly high rates of male suicide, it is comforting and affirming with its repeated chants of ‘It’s not the day that you die!’
Moving on to the new tracks, a particularly gritty and notable stand-out of the entire album is ‘Judas Beast’. The tone of the bass is arresting and biting, commanding your full attention. Everything beautifully synergises together, culminating in a beautiful display of Godfrey’s fretboard gymnastics, throughout, punctuated by that growling bass. ‘Judas Beast’ is quintessential Demob Happy, and stands as a testament to over a decade of refinement.
To go from the raucousness of ‘Judas Beast’ to ‘Don’t Hang Up’ is almost necessary, dialling everything back to recover from the triple threat that preceded it. ‘Don’t Hang Up’ is not only a wistful piano crescendo – a relatively underused instrument in the Demob Happy catalogue – but serves its purpose of resetting the tempo and mood between the beginning and middle of The Grown Ups Are Talking. ‘Who Should I Say Is Calling?’ is the last single from the album and serves as ‘Don’t Hang Up’s lyrical contrast. It is a catchy track that features the eponymous line, ‘The grown-ups are talking.’ Unfortunately, there’s something about the track that comes across as slightly weaker than the rest of the album, particularly in the bridges. Hopefully, it translates better in a live setting, but its fragility doesn’t seem to come from being the oldest of TGUAT’s singles. A shame given its status within the album.
Demob Happy have mastered the art of pairing songs together; their previous album, Divine Machines, had a couple of tracks with separate interlude tracks like ‘God’s Coffee’ leading into ‘Run Baby Run’. TGUAT continues this trend of paired tracks with ‘Miracle Worker Pt. 1’ and ‘Pt. 2’. Both parts are pure Demob Happy, and sometimes a band just needs to release a track that plays to their strengths – in this case, two. The Grown-Ups Are Talking is a return to the sound that makes Demob Happy identifiable, and whilst the synth-heavy Divine Machines was certainly a strong and successful venture, it’s really something to see a band return to a familiar sound with fresh new ideas.
Case in point, ‘Somethings Gotta Give’ is a slower and deeply evocative track, dedicated to Marcantonio’s father. A beautiful elegy contemplating life before and after such a personal loss, it is proof of the musical and personal growth that Demob Happy have undergone since they released Dream Soda back in 2015. Even if you’ve come to love Demob Happy for their gruelling, loud rock and roll sound, ‘Somethings Gotta Give’ is a striking track for the entire album, and is a good indication of how far they have come.
Closing out The Grown-Ups Are Talking are ‘Little Bird’ and ‘Give It All To Me’. Both channel elements of the American desert, the quiet moments of ‘Little Bird’ are especially reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age’s consistent desert motifs. ‘Give It All To Me’ is a beautiful end to the album, and seems to be an homage to the studio where the album was recorded, the famous Rancho de la Luna studio in Joshua Tree. Such a graceful end to an album proves Demob Happy’s growth, and the desert ambience alongside the deeply introspective and longing lyrics seals the deal.
Demob Happy are at their prime, and The Grown-Ups Are Talking is the perfect culmination of how far they have come. The gripes in this review are few and far between, and if anything should be a testament to how well-crafted this album is. Demob Happy is talking, but are you listening? Maybe you should.
