Merchandise – After The End

So what exactly do you want from Tampa contrarians Merchandise? A return to their hardcore roots? More post-punk noise-pop? Sorry kids. After The End is their most grandiose yet conventional offering thus far, nonchalantly booting expectations into the gutter. Occasionally, wonderful things happen: Telephone’s Tindersticks-play-Blondie pep, for instance, with its glorious chorus poised on the balance beam between hope and inevitable gloom. True Monument isn’t far behind, finding room for melodic pathos amid dramatic Eastenders drum fills.

Still, the record feels problematic – even deadened by the pristine clarity of the production, with some numbers coasting pleasantly but unremarkably. The ears yearn for a little spice or grit, or just anything to latch on to. On balance, it’s worth seeing this determination to avoid filth or fury as symptomatic of Merchandise’s dogged mission to put as much distance as possible between their past and present. After all, whose expectations have they really got to meet but their own? They owe you nothing.