‘The second album’ is a phrase with enough weight to strike fear into any Green Room. From Savage Garden to The Stone Roses, LP number two has proven too much for many, and given the topic an infamy akin to saying ‘MacBeth’ in a theatre. While Merseyside outfit The Ks never quite reached the heights of the Roses with ‘I Wonder If The World Knows?’, the album’s vibrant take on Indie’s classic sound certainly raised a dauntingly high bar for future releases to meet. If there’s one thing that frontman Jamie Boyle and his band are good at, though, it’s channelling negative buzz into something rather spectacular. So, back to the studio they went.
While seven years of blood, sweat, and beers separated iconic debut single ‘Sarajevo’ from The K’s inaugural LP, their next release rolls round after just over a year, complete with summertime hits oven-ready for the festival stage. At no point does the album feel half-baked, combining fantastic production with a classic yet refreshing guitar-oriented soundscape. ‘Pretty On The Internet’ is everything we’ve come to expect from Earlestown’s finest: dynamic, down-to-earth and deceptively vulnerable.
In a guitar music scene now dominated by the post-punk brilliance of Fontaines D.C. and Wunderhorse, the record’s opening track, ‘Before I Hit The Floor’, is a manifesto for the ‘indie banger’. Mixed by industry firebrand Pete Hutchings, every layer of the track – from Nathan Peers’ tireless drums to Ryan Breslin’s identity-defining lead guitar – combines for a perfect introduction to a new era of the Ks. If there ever were niggling doubts about album two, ‘Pretty On The Internet’ kills them off before the thirty-second mark.
Blending themes of anxious insecurity into a song is certainly a hard task for any band that prides itself on vibrant riffs and kaleidoscopic sound – you’d struggle to fit Radiohead lyrics between Two Door Cinema Club licks. It’s testament to Boyle’s songwriting ability, therefore, that tracks such as ‘Rat Poison’ and ‘Breakdown In My Bedroom’ remain veritable foot-tappers despite conveying an uncomfortably familiar feeling of “the chaos constantly unfolding in my head”, to use the singer’s own words. The LP’s second track, a story of another night out derailed by self-loathing thoughts, encapsulates this fantastically with it’s earworm of a chorus and Dexter Baker’s jumpy bassline, reminiscent of fellow Merseysiders Circa Waves.
‘Pretty On The Internet’ and its uncompromising energy continue into ‘Breakdown In My Bedroom’, with a key change towards the end of the track keeping you on your toes. It’s no Admiral Halsey/Uncle Albert by any means, but feels fantastic on a first listen. What really sets this LP apart from previous K’s releases, though, is the touch of producer Jim Lowe. Having worked with Stereophonics throughout his career, including on hit track ‘Dakota’, Lowe’s rich experience is ever-present on ‘Pretty on the Internet’. The K’s are no strangers to a good-old string section – an orchestral intro kicked off their debut album, after all – but on slower tracks ‘Helen, Oh, I’ and ‘Perfect Haunting’, mixer Pete Hutchings and Lowe implement classical influences perfectly to support Boyle’s ever-improving vocals.
Tracks ‘Picking Up The Pieces’ and ‘Me And Your Sister’ are the band operating at full-tilt. One can only imagine what the heart rate of Nathan Peers must be as his thunderous drumming lays the backdrop to a truly herculean seven minutes of music. It’s no wonder the tracks are placed neatly between slower neighbours in ‘Helen, Oh, I’ and ’33 Heads’ – the band, and listeners if we’re being honest, probably needed a breather. Yet again, Ryan Breslin’s guitar is the soul of the Ks, providing each track with its own character whilst retaining the album’s sound overall. Given the chance to flex his 6-string muscles towards the end of ‘Sold It, Own It’, Breslin makes no mistake, delivering a solid solo to conclude the song’s crescendo.
‘Gravestone’ was picked as the album’s sophomore single, and it isn’t hard to see why. Following along from a heart-wrenching (albeit rather catchy) track in ‘Running Away Now’, the album’s penultimate piece brings home a final, emphatic burst of energy. Together with ‘Perfect Haunting’, the song creates a hopeful conclusion to the album, however morbidly it may come across. This cements a theme within ‘Pretty On The Internet. Whether through their signature vibrant sound or the uplifting bridge on ‘Breakdown In My Bedroom’, The K’s always have the ability to show you a light at the end of the tunnel. In their own words, for every episode of “self-destruction”, there’s “time to learn”.
Words by Dylan Seymour