As a big fan of the NewDad debut album, I had been awaiting their second release with excitement. But I did have one niggling question. That debut had been a very solid album, with some outstanding songs – but it had also felt like they had the capacity to go much harder than they did at times, and on occasion, particularly on the more ballad-style songs, they could tend towards the wishy-washy. Which way would they go with the second album? Would they lean in their softer side, or would the promise of something with a bit more bite be realised?
I only had to wait about 90 seconds of opener ‘Other Side’ for an answer. After a slow, brooding opening – the song bursts into life with a crash of percussion and guitars that instantly causes a tingle on the spine. It feels like a band saying, right from the start, that they are going to be taking things up a level from here on out.
And that feeling remains for most of the album. ‘Heavyweight’ goes straight for the punch, taking off at a great pace before building to one of Julie Dawson’s best vocal chorus moments to date. There is no lull in this song, either, the intensity in the instrumentation growing and growing until the track judders to a stop.
One of the reasons that I think NewDad occasionally lent into the wishy-washy sound on the first album is that, unlike a lot of other post-punk bands, they do have a singer who can carry off a slower, more vocals-led song. It’s apt that on the verses of ‘Pretty’, her voice sounds more gorgeous than ever. But unlike some of the previous calmer moments, the music stays a bit more impactful – a great guitar line commanding the song throughout.
And then ‘RooBosh’ rumbles into life to amp things up again. There is definitely an argument for this being the album’s standout track, with the rhythm section really driving us forward at a relentless pace while Dawson yelps and screams in a way we haven’t heard before. ‘Misery’ completes an absolutely blistering opening, with another addictive guitar line and probably the most ear wormy lyrical couplet on the album – I have had the lines ‘Is it a strange obsession?/Yeah, a sort of addiction/A bit of a kink for self-affliction/Is it a bit of lust for misery?/Because her and I have history’ going round in my head for weeks.
‘Sinking Kind of Feeling’ is perhaps the first moment when the wishy-washy threat returns, but the difference between this and the last album is that this break from the cacophony feels earned. We are ready for a less commanding song after such a strong opening. And there are lyrical and vocal moments that make this song grab the attention in a new way. ‘Puzzle’, ‘Entertainer’, and ‘Everything I Wanted’ continue this relaxing of the pace and power, but all of them show more control and purpose than the slower songs on the debut. Especially on ‘Entertainer’, which features a killer crunchy guitar riff and the catchiest chorus on the LP.
Of all the songs in the second half, it is perhaps ‘Mr Cold Embrace’ that most demonstrates the increased confidence of the band. This is the closest thing to a ballad on the album, but it feels like an LP standout rather than being the filler type ballad of album one. And as the album draws to a close with ‘Vertigo’ and ‘Something Broken’, it is that confidence that leaves the most lasting impression; on Altar, NewDad have gone from a promising band with moments of magic, to an act which knows who they are and what they want to be.
Words by Fran Slater
Picky Bastards 