I Concur 'Able Archer' (Club AC30) Released 19/10/09

It’s been a long, arduous process for Leeds foursome I Concur. Despite initially coming together some three years ago, their journey has been a painstaking one via the old school route of toilet circuit venues. Along the way however, they’ve also used their time wisely, carefully developing and honing their sound to one that is earnestly unique, and instantly recognisable in its own right. From a songwriting perspective I Concur are anything but run of the mill too, preferring instead to focus on rarely broached subjects like motorway construction, extinct species of crocodile and South Korean stem cell scientists.

Many of the songs on ‘Able Archer’ have actually been around almost as long as the band themselves, the likes of ‘Decimal Places’ and ‘Oblige’ having been focal points of their live set since their earliest shows. Nevertheless, the production skills of James Kenosha come to the fore throughout ‘Able Archer’, not least by the way I Concur’s often understated rush of heady guitars find themselves promoted to the forefront of the mix. What this means is that current single ‘Sobotka’ (yes, it is about the character of the same name from cult TV show ‘The Wire’) and dramatic closer ‘Exits Are Blockades’ become re-enforced to the power of ten by swathes of reverb-etched glissandos, while the album’s title track and centre piece gives the likes of Muse a run for their money in combining musical virtuosity with elegance and mystique, its melody and hookline completely changing direction in an unexpected manner at the final third.

Elsewhere, the comparisons to The National which have been both a help and hindrance to I Concur in the past come to the fore, particularly by way of Tim Hann’s melancholic storytelling on the likes of ‘Grandeur’ and ‘Build Around Me’. The album’s most recent composition ‘Your Words, Your Dialect’ meanwhile offers a further insight into I Concur’s varied armoury, verging ever so slightly into the radio-friendly territories, if not quite in the happy-go-lucky pop category many of their contemporaries aspire to.

Overall, ‘Able Archer’ is a finely tuned collection of songs that sparkles with a beauty and intelligence so desperately lacking in many of today’s more highly feted artists. Furthermore, it represents the fact that substance will always win the day over style, and I Concur seemingly possess that facet by the bucketload.