The Wharves - At Bay

Such is my experience with The Wharves’ latest – and first full LP – At Bay. Make no mistake, this trio is rife with idiosyncrasy, with a member each hailing from Ireland, England, and France, slathering each of their songs with bewitching falsetto harmonies, and injecting their ‘90s-alt rock indebted sound with heavy doses of British Folk and Prog-Rock. The band’s 2013 debut, half of a split LP for Soft Power Records with garage rockers The Rosy Crucifixion, put their insistent rhythm section at the fore and proving they could crunch and plod with the best of them. Perhaps with the aid of indie pop producer Rory Atwell, At Bay finds the trio decidedly lighter on their feet without really sacrificing their heavier tendencies or the rhythm section’s spotlight.

Rhythmically and melodically, Marion Andrau’s drums and Gemma Fleet’s bass receive substantial help here from guitarist Dearbhla Minogue’s (no relation, folks) limber and fluid guitar lines. With only the grinding slog of “Faultlines” significantly hearkening to its forebears, Minogue adds some much needed elasticity and breathing room on “Left, Right, and Centre” and “The Grip”, tracks that would previously have been bogged down by their gummy lumbering. In fact, what The Wharves have done here is set “Faultlines” itself apart as its own anomaly on the album and bestowing it some distinctiveness. Creating and highlighting the details really is how The Wharves begin to distinguish themselves on At Bay. From the addition of organ and mandolin accents to their standard drum, bass, guitar setup to varying tempo and dynamic, deftly leaping from the aforementioned tunes to such giddily buzzy fare as “Scarlet For Ya” and “By Hook or By Crook”; even the oddball French-inspired waltz of “Ode a Jimmy” feels right at home here.

Setting aside the surely acquired taste of Minogue’s and Fleet’s banshee vocals – something you’re either into or able to look past or not – At Bay really only has one major issue. For an album that plays so small, where each song feels impeccably crafted in and of itself, at 13 tracks and nearly 50 minutes, it lingers a good several songs or 10 minutes too long. By the time of the acoustic “Keep On” and onward from there, the album loses steam and songs seem to become indistinct. It’s difficult to tell if it’s down to the actual songs themselves in the last third of the album – I’d say at least partially so – or if simply one has gotten tired of the album by that point. What unfortunately does happen is, come the “Politick”-sounding closer, “First Day Back”, memories of all of At Bay’s earlier highs have become hazy and you kind of just feel like turning it off and walking away for a while rather than spinning it again.

By and large, The Wharves should be thrilled with At Bay; in an increasingly fractious musical landscape where individuality is at a perpetually higher premium, they have managed to construct an interesting and distinctive sound. Here’s hoping going forward, the trio offers us maybe an impeccably decorated roomful of it rather than overwhelming us with an entire building full.