Album Review: Understand – Real Food At Last
Reviewed by Carl Black
Real Food at Last, the new album by Understand, has a dual functionality. Not only does it remind us of what an essential underground 90's band the Southend crew were at their creative height, but more importantly serves as a tribute to the now sadly passed visionary of the band, guitarist John Hannon.
After Understand’s association with East/West records went south, the band were still writing songs with the high hope of gaining another record label to release future albums. Unfortunately, life got in the way and the albums that was recorded on old-fashioned tape were put in moth balls as the band fell away from each other and Understand seemed to be committed to the archive.
Fast forward almost over twenty years and the chain of events that included mixing, mastering and digitalising two of the tracks recorded from the final sessions, a global pandemic and the very sad passing of John Hannon, you have every reason to dig out these ten tracks out let the public hear them.
They don't hang around. The title track is certainly punkier. It doesn't take long for the band to fulfil their trademark sound of ringing, clean, razor sharp, strong guitar sound, on songs such as 'Screwtop Milkshake', 'Sentence' and 'Skirt'. Off kilter rhythm section parts in 'You Want the News' and 'Small Boy', But all songs sung with clean emotionally charged vocals, sung in such a fashion even all the hard-core collective which Understand connected themselves with, would end up sobbing in their wife beater vests.
Over the course of these songs they seem to have a habit of almost falling apart but this is all clinically done as each song is rounded up with a huge chorus of razor edged riffing that is precise and absolutely meticulously laid down. The only song slightly out of kilter with the rest of their back catalogue and this album, is the last song 'Lightweight' which has a three minute Outro which is both hypnotic and avent-garde. With the back drop of this album, it serves as a painful and poignant goodbye.
This album catches lightning in a bottle. It had me weeping with both anticipation, nostalgia and remembrance. This is album of the year material.
