- Perth boy and girl duo The Money War have been peppering us with high quality singles since 2016, and have at last released a full-length album, Home. The new album is quite like a new iPhone though - you line up all night in Queen St mall in an armchair to get your hands on it, and then you realise it’s essentially what you already have: eight of the ten songs on the album have already been released as singles.
The Money War are dreamy, melodic and ethereal. Home is simultaneously a relentless wall of sound but is sweet and soft like wafer. The Money War risk being the equivalent of that boyfriend or girlfriend that you take to family Christmas and everyone says “they were really nice” but can’t remember a thing they said. Tracks Hollywood and In the Morning With You could make a pyrotechnician fall asleep at work, but do have their place on a relaxing Sunday afternoon or filling in the awkward post-sex silence on a quiet evening in. Man’s Needs must also be the most sleepy gay anthem of all-time.
However, there is some rock’n’roll to be found in the tracks Recall and Stars, which coincidentally are two of the weaker songs on the record. Skilfully self-produced, the group’s abilities are best exhibited on the - dare I say the ‘C’ word: ’chill’ songs of the record. Home is reminiscent of The Panics or Sleepy Jackson and there are some memorable hooks to be found amongst the ocean of reverb. French electro-pop duo Air are also an obvious influence, with stabbing piano, acoustic guitar, simple drum beats and dreamy vocals omnipresent on the record.
Highlights of the album include the eight singles, but the highlights of the highlights are Right Kind Of Love, an orchestral, tummy-warming, chord-shifting gem, and the first single, although now nearly three years old, Give It Time. “Give it time, it’ll be fine” is the repetitive refrain of the quasi-chorus, and it’s important to remember you’re paying for music and not motivational speech. Not exactly a life-saving song, but if you’ve stubbed your toe or put your tortillas in the Microwave for 30 minutes rather than seconds, perhaps you will find it sufficiently therapeutic. Tracks Home and Hold On are also more than worthy of a spin. Home doesn’t trump its influencers but will have its occasions if it finds itself in your record collection.
- Harry Rival Lee.