Funeral Suits // Lily Of The Vally

Funeral Suits
Lily of the Valley
(Model Citizen)
* * *

In their namesake Funeral Suits have posed themselves a problem of semantics. The garments are drab, unshowy, functional, and yet these boys from Dublin might have wanted to attract a bit of an excitable crowd. Particularly as debut ‘Lily of the Valley’ is about as far from a bedroom-made record as they come.

They’re ambitious – grand sweeps of cello on ‘We Only Attack Ourselves’, a three part modal harmony to opener ‘Mary’s Revenge’ and an abdomen made of keyboards to bounce their electronic inflected rock on – but with bluster comes some kind of responsibility to be grandiose in all disciplines. By far the catchiest song on the album, ‘All Those Friendly People’ is centered around the lyric, “you say you reap just what you sow, tell me where does your garden grow?” – pretty, but not a line to remember.

Similarly ‘Stars are Spaceships’ is a beautifully crafted thing, but shat all over by dodgy verbal efforts. The ballsy bass and militant drums of ‘Health’ keep their vessel afloat, only this time lyrics don’t let them down.

The only resolution it seems is to downgrade your sonic weapons, or up your lyrical ante. We certainly don’t need another White Lies, do we now?

Emily Kendrick