Seven years is a long time between albums. Almost as long as it takes me to review an album, in fact; The Keys’ follow-up to their self-titled 2003 debut came out back in the summer. It’s a very long time to come back with an album that’s 27 minutes long, given that’s roughly half the length of the support set they played to the Broken Family Band the last time I saw them back in 2006. Luckily, The Keys have returned with a concise, fat-free set that’s superficially retro but in practice sounds timeless, not merely echoing psych, garage and British Invasion beat-pop from the 60s but additionally nodding towards the darker 80s fuzztone territory of the Mary Chain and Spacemen 3 and present-day wanderers from the Super Furry Animals to Comets On Fire. And it sounds gorgeous. Self-produced at home, it comes off like a lovingly arranged studio project; there’s a warmth and clarity to the sound that sits together beautifully. The guiding hand of Cardiff’s go-to hired gun Charlie Francis, who helmed similarly classic arrangements for the High Llamas and Spencer McGarry Season, is clearly felt.
Most importantly, it lines up a succession of belting tunes. ‘Fire Inside’ itself opens in familiar Yardbirds/Zombies territory, pin-sharp harmonies slipping over fuzz bass, hammond and pop-psych guitars. ‘Chemistry’ undeniably references classic SFA balladry, which is maybe hard to avoid for any Welsh band with an eye on the past, but it’s executed perfectly. ‘Valley Sun’, another pastoral slow-burner, works a similar trick, emerging from a trippy Dead Meadow-esque intro into a slightly hokey address to a young man sliding into small-town stagnation. Matt Evans’ wistful croon carries it off, though; it’s a persuasive force on this record, sounding more eyes-opened neophyte than portentuous buffoon on the trippy psych of the Spiritualized-biting ‘I Am The Breeze’. God knows how many have trodden that path and come off sounding like cocksure divs. Evans skilfully avoids any such pitfalls, and the noodling backwards guitar and chugging rhythms come off sounding fresh. ‘People Meet People’, meanwhile, is a fuzzed-up, 2½ minute garage stomper, all machine-gun drums, swooping bass and a raspy vocal. Great scream leading into the note-perfect Sonics solo, too. The closing ‘O Lord’ adds Byrdsian west-coast jangle, tumbling Monkees rhythms and a great teased-out Spacemen 3 solo to the palette.
Fire Inside is a record recognisably by the band that made The Keys back in 2003, but which sounds more confident, assured and well-rounded than the debut, losing the held-over trappings of Murry The Hump that marked out that album as a bridge from their old band. It takes the brevity and songwriting nous of stand-outs like ‘From Tense To Loose To Slack’ and delivers an album full, still managing to keep it varied enough for each of the 27 minutes, even the droning 30-second red herring ‘Low And Behold’ (which could do with being stretched out). Quietly, unassumingly, one of the year’s nicest surprises.
The Keys play Swn at Y Fuwch Goch this Friday, 22nd October from 11.15pm.
