The Silver Factory – If Words Could Kill – album review

The Silver Factory – If Words Could Kill (Elefant)
10″ LP  / DL
Available now

The debut LP from Elefant signing The Silver Factory has shades of late ’80s period Stone Roses through its happy-go-lucky guitar-driven garage pop.

This seven-track mini LP may on first listen make you think of many a fey indiepop band of years past. There is certainly some of that in the sound but there is also ghosts of garage rock, sixties soul and old-fashioned rhythm and blues are conjured here too.

As the needle hits the groove of album opener If Words Could Kill there is definitely a feel of late ’80s era Stone Roses in the mix and biting sentiment of the sweetly delivered lyric.

I Am The Sign has a country twang running through it while side A closer Comedown Cherry  is the direct descendent of the Beatles‘ The Night Before and Billy J Kramer’s Little Children.

The flip side brings more of the same and while Fran Feely clearly has the knack for writing bubbling pop songs to get your feet tapping its more for the sake of revolutions than being revolutionary in itself.

But effort isn’t always wasted reinventing a wheel. This LP takes several styles that worked perfectly as stand alones but haven’t suffered for being ever-so-gently folded together.

There is a jangle, a subtle fill, the sound of skiffle viewed through the prismic lens of garage rock. There is even a sitar-addled closer that makes you wonder if as well as a feathercut and a bulging record collection The Silver Factory have something quite interesting in store for us down the line.

All words by Sarah Lay. You can read more from Sarah on LTW here or follow her on Twitter.

Posted by Sarah Lay - Sarah is News and Reviews Editor at LouderThanWar and when she's not doing that (or her sensible day job) she's somewhat foolishly setting up a record label, music promotion and digital agency (Noble and Wild) and inevitably working on her first novel. She's a compulsive collector of coloured vinyl and a believer in the boogie.