The Answering Machine : 'Obviously Cold'
The Answering Machine are a Manchester-born four-piece set to finally release their debut album ‘Another City, Another Sorry’ later this year, almost three years after their tangibly promising limited edition single ‘Oklahoma’ had created small ripples in the sea of indie music. So what have they been doing in the meantime? Well, appearances at Glastonbury and SXSW would suggest touring has taken up much of their time until attentions switched to getting out a new and official debut single, a taster for the album that will follow, and that arrived in the shape of ‘Glimmer’ earlier this year, a song that showed the band have grown into something more substantial and made a proper band out of a show of promise. So, like buses, another single is along no sooner had the previous one departed and its name is ‘Obviously Cold’.
For those of you understandably unfamiliar with the band, their sound is one of modern British indie – unmistakably pop at its core, tempo unstoppable and guitars integral and this sound is one continued on ‘Obviously Cold’. The song begins with a miniature crescendo leading into a kooks-shaped verse, one guitar painting the melody whilst the other instruments are kept simple, and the background from which the vocal and rhythm guitar can set the tone. All of which leads to a chorus, a well introduced but disappointingly bland centre-piece to a song that flatters to deceive. It’s not bad – far from it – it’s just nothing new. The lyrics contain no substantial resonance, the guitars stick to the tried and trusted indie rule book and the vocal delivery is good but not great. The Answering Machine strike me as that sort of band, forgive me for saying it, but one who are well capable of stringing together some nice melodies and probably provide upbeat and smile-inducing live performance, but whose role in the world of modern music can only be a supporting one – there are bands with more to say and a better way of saying it, of that I am sure.
Predictably following verse two is another chorus, a semblance of a bridge with a ‘stop, don’t stop’ vocal confusion and a double-chorus finale. If I don’t sound inspired, well it’s because I’m not really.
This single could generously be described as pleasantly pop-tastic as easily as it could be lamented for being almost instantly forgettable; the sort that I’m afraid simply isn’t my thing. It would be disrespectful of me to list an alternative selection of bands that go beyond the straightforward in producing melodic indie with style, but if it’s them you’re looking for, you should look beyond The Answering Machine.
5/10
Words : Benjamin Coley
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