aaamusic | On 28, Oct 2012

You know, this might be down to my status as someone who writes about songs, rather than someone who actually writes songs, but I think that the phrase “Write about what you know” is one that should be taken a lot less literally than most. Budding songwriters, don’t write about what you know, because chances are everyone knows what you know and chances are even higher you don’t have the turn of phrase that, say, Alex Turner has to make it relatable, as opposed to just dull. Only write about what you know if you’re absolutely sure that very few others know it as well, and even then make sure it’s not so off the wall that absolutely no-one will get it. And if you’re even half way middle class then most people will laugh you off stage before you get the chance to play a note. So, call me cut-throat, but when bands that claim to write songs about “love, life and girls”, as Glaswegian quartet John Wean claim to, I’m expecting something to comprehensively dwarf the first Arctic Monkeys record, Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve), and the Ash singles collection in order for it not to bore me to tears. Does M.A.P achieve that? Fuck, no. Is it a waste of time? As much of a hypocrite as it makes me sound, also no.
You see, while M.A.P is lyrically a pretty basic “Holy shit, my girls pregnant!” tale, musically it’s actually pretty cracking. Heart on sleeve, surprisingly inventive indie-rock that, according to tastemakers, went out of style a year and a half ago but here sounds fresher than a shower in a waterfall. It more than makes up for the not outright bad, but more than slightly unoriginal lyrics, and makes John Wean worth keeping an eye on, especially if the last Vaccines album left you as cold as it did for most fans. Recommended.

★★★★★

Will Howard