Source: Album Artwork
One of the most celebrated and exciting bands to have emerged from the Australian rock scene in the last few years isMelbourne’s The Smith Street Band who started to gain attention overseas with the release of their 2014 breakout album Throw Me in the River. Three years later they’ve returned in style with their brand new fourth album More Scared of You Than You Are of Me, produced by American musician Jeff Rosenstock.
The Smith Street Band’s music varies from rowdy punk rock to quiet acoustic ballads and everything in between, with genuine heart and emotion packed into every moment. This new album makes full use of this range, kicking off with the explosively raucous ‘Forrest’, before settling down a bit with ‘Birthdays’, a delightfully heartwarming song about finding love.
‘Death to the Lads’, the album’s first single released last year, is already a live favourite with its triumphant chorus and is sure to become one of the band’s many huge festival singalongs. Two of the album’s highlights are the uplifting, anthemic tracks ‘Shine’ and ‘Young Once’, the latter of which provides a beautiful climax towards the end of the album.
Undoubtedly the strength of The Smith Street Band’s music lies in the fact that frontman Wil Wagner is easily one of the most engaging and likable songwriters out there today. Wil has a talent for writing honest and heartfelt lyrics, while his passionate and slightly eccentric vocal delivery gives the band a distinctive voice. Wil’s voice is versatile too, ranging from angrily shouting on the satisfyingly dark and heavy track ‘Suffer’, to gently crooning on album closer ‘Laughing (Or Pretending to Laugh)’. There isn’t a song on the album that doesn’t sound like Wil is pouring his heart and soul into every word and making the listener feel every emotion that he felt while writing it.
More Scared of You… is probably The Smith Street Band’s finest record yet, building on the success of their previous album and pushing themselves to write some of the most emotional and life-affirming songs of their career.
