Circa Waves: Different Creatures

I thought I’d revisit one of my favourite and most underrated albums for the next review.

The second album from Liverpool band Circa Waves.

Side A opens with ‘Wake Up’ the perfect opening track for an album, a snarling guitar driven affair. It’s not only the perfect album opener, it’s the perfect introduction to the band. This is Circa Waves at their best. One of the most underrated tunes of that era. ‘Fire that Burns’ picks up where ‘Wake Up’ left off with a loud brash drum sound and pulsating guitar riffs littered throughout. ‘Fire that Burns’ has a brilliant chorus to boot, perfect for the live environment which is where Circa Waves excel. This song has become a live staple, and rightfully slow. The band don’t let up ‘Goodbye’ is next and might take the crown for the albums loudest song. Lyrically this track tackles a relationship that is on the ropes something the band had done before on previous record ‘Young Chasers’ but not like this, they really upped it a gear on this album.

‘Out on My Own’ is the first time the band ease off the accelerator a little, offering us a real change of pace. This song allows Kieran Shundall, the bands frontman and chief songwriter to showcase his lyrical ability. It’s a much more heartfelt effort than the previous three songs, and shows a vulnerable side to the band which they’ll explore more both on this record and later in their career. ‘Different Creatures’ ends Side A and acts as a middle ground between the snarling growl of the first three songs and the more mellow ‘Out on My Own’. It also sees the band make their most political statement, about the nature of the world and the way people are treated. Those who heard the bands debut album, couldn’t have seen the band go that way on a follow up, but they did and it really works. Both thoughtful and thought provoking, something that’s very hard to do.

Side B opens with ‘Crying Shame’ which sees the band step back into familiar territory but by no means is that a bad thing. Far from it. They are doing what they are good at it, a guitar driven pop song. With a catchy chorus that made us all fall in love with Circa Waves.
‘Love’s Run Out’ again is a slower more mellow affair, and acts almost as the albums acoustic tune, in competition with the albums final track ‘Old Friends’ again this song allows the band to showcase the lyrics, and lyrically this song is up there with the bands best. ‘Stuck’ is a catchy gem that has one of the albums best choruses so uplifting and something the band have become accustomed to doing, it’s why we love them.

‘A Night on the Broken Tiles’ is an indie night out performed by one of Britain’s best indie bands, a snarling dark song, which is led by a rather sinister drum beat. No longer content with being indie darlings. They showcase just what they can do on this song. Not a band afraid to shake things up. ‘Without You’ is the albums penultimate track, another heavier tune this time focused around some brilliant guitar work. This song really shows the evolution of the band, it’s an indie gem that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on ‘Young Chasers’ beefed up.

‘Old Friends’ brings the record to a close, and is probably my favourite track. A slow paced affair that tackles friendship, being young and the fear of growing up. It’s something that we’ve all related to at some point in our lives. A song with a tinge of regret, a lot of nostalgia and glint of optimism. It brings one of the most underrated records of the 2010s to an end.

Thank you for reading x