American Wrestlers – Goodbye Terrible Youth

What’s that old adage about it taking ten years to become an overnight success? It could very easily apply to Gary McClure, the Scottish frontman of American Wrestlers.

The story goes like this: McClure was one half of Manchester shoegaze outfit Working For A Nuclear Free City, who got some acclaim without really hitting turbo, before winding down in 2013. A new relationship, a marriage, and a move to St. Louis followed – there was a solo project called Wreaths (that didn’t get anywhere) before American Wrestlers were brought into the world, and much to McClure’s surprise, people dug it. On this second outing, the homespun TASCAM-powered, shoegaze-powerpop has given way to something more fuller, more considered.

It’s a record of two halves. The first, characterised by opening track Vote Thatcher, is new-wave, synth-heavy, with some really killer choruses – big, fist-pumping, spilled-pints-on-the-dancefloor choruses, that still retain a musical and lyrical intelligence.

Amazing Grace is the album’s highlight. Melodically it feels like there’s more variation here on some of the other tracks – it still sounds grungy and sparse, like it belongs on the record rather than being a last-minute filler to provide a single, but it definitely feels more of a stretch for McClure et al – the piano providing more colour to the overall sound.

The second half almost feels like a lost Britpop album. The stabbing guitars and tambourine of title track Terrible Youth certainly have that Manchester vibe, possibly influenced by McClure’s time living there when he was part of Working For a Nuclear Free City. There’s more wailing guitars and clattering cymbals, but it feels like a continuation of the record’s first half, rather than a stark departure.

McClure is clearly a songwriter who has a very clear idea of the music he wants to make, and a singer of real energy and emotion. He wears his influences on his sleeve throughout this album, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.