After the End
The Tampa, Fla.–based Merchandise signed to the influential U.K. label 4AD and performed a stylistic about-face for their third album, *After the End*. Adding two full-time members to flesh out the trio’s sound, the band set about recording and producing their music over a six-month period in their Tampa house. Gareth Jones (who’s twiddled dials for Depeche Mode, Interpol, and Grizzly Bear) helps out with the mixing, but the performances are the sound of a band growing up. No longer aiming for the aggression of postpunk, the band recreate the suave sounds of the late ‘80s. “Enemy” snags the opening riff to The Rolling Stones’ “Jumping Jack Flash” and makes it dance for a new century. “True Monument” lets singer Carson Cox put his baritone to good use, which he continues to do on songs like “Green Lady,” “Life Outside the Mirror,\" and “Looking Glass Waltz,” emerging in the process as a leader of considerable power.
Merchandise's latest and first for new label home 4AD is so determinedly mild-mannered, it essentially amounts to a declaration of war: against dominant notions of cool, the act of hiding your feelings behind a wall of noise, and the idea that anti-pop experimentation is inherently more noble and challenging a practice than writing a simple, emotionally direct love song.
Merchandise's latest and first for new label home 4AD is so determinedly mild-mannered, it essentially amounts to a declaration of war: against dominant notions of cool, the act of hiding your feelings behind a wall of noise, and the idea that anti-pop experimentation is inherently more noble and challenging a practice than writing a simple, emotionally direct love song.
The Floridian threesome delve, somewhat ironically, into a predictably surprising reinvention. Sadly, it's not as mindblowing as their previous transformations.
The Floridian threesome delve, somewhat ironically, into a predictably surprising reinvention. Sadly, it's not as mindblowing as their previous transformations.
What comes after the end? That’s the implicit question posed the title to Merchandise’s new album.
What comes after the end? That’s the implicit question posed the title to Merchandise’s new album.
If the rhetoric around this record was about severe change, this is the rabbit in the hat, the proof that they don’t just talk the talk.
If the rhetoric around this record was about severe change, this is the rabbit in the hat, the proof that they don’t just talk the talk.
So what exactly do you want from Tampa contrarians Merchandise? A return to their hardcore roots? More post-punk noisepop? Sorry kids. After The End is their most grandiose yet conventional offering thus far, nonchalantly booting expectations into the gutter.
So what exactly do you want from Tampa contrarians Merchandise? A return to their hardcore roots? More post-punk noisepop? Sorry kids. After The End is their most grandiose yet conventional offering thus far, nonchalantly booting expectations into the gutter.
Since their inception in 2008 we've watched as Tampa five-piece Merchandise have morphed from DIY hardcore punks into reverb-drenched indie merchants on their excellent 2013 mini-LP Totale Night.
Since their inception in 2008 we've watched as Tampa five-piece Merchandise have morphed from DIY hardcore punks into reverb-drenched indie merchants on their excellent 2013 mini-LP Totale Night.
The Florida five-piece still haven't found what they're looking for, writes <strong>Killian Fox</strong>
The Florida five-piece still haven't found what they're looking for, writes <strong>Killian Fox</strong>
Merchandise's new full-length album 'After the End' reviewed by Northern Transmissions, the debut LP from the band comes out on August 26 via 4AD records
Merchandise's new full-length album 'After the End' reviewed by Northern Transmissions, the debut LP from the band comes out on August 26 via 4AD records
Merchandise may not be quite the iconoclasts they'd like you to believe, but they do seem to be on the way somewhere interesting, writes<strong> Tim Jonze</strong>
Merchandise may not be quite the iconoclasts they'd like you to believe, but they do seem to be on the way somewhere interesting, writes<strong> Tim Jonze</strong>