The Rec – Lads of Summer (2021)
The long days of summer as a child are packed with innocent exploration and fun with friends. The Rec brings these memories and experiences to sonic life with their EP Lads of Summer. Not only is the EP packed with memories of their younger days, but the tracks are also some of the first the band recorded, marking a major stepping stone.
As the last of five EP’s the band has released on streaming services, it moves from the start of summer to the lingering touch these memories have. Dovey and Ritchie are the duo behind the music and the memories. Long-time friends, they went to school together and formed their first band before heading their separate ways. Life threw them back together a few years ago when the internet presented them with the opportunity to make the music they always wanted.
The EP opens with the first warm rays of summer in ‘1982’. There is a roll and twang to the music that has you bopping around to the melody. The vocals bring the youthful excitement of summer to the single, like lights at a fair calling out for your attention. The calling out of the lights flows wonderfully into the post-punk vocals of the chorus. The lyrics bring the fun and excitement of summer in your youth to life by highlighting all the fun things you can do. While the melody is bright and cheery with vocals that bring the wonder of summer, there is a light touch of restriction like what you really want is not around.
‘The Scrumpers’ brings another experience of youthful adventure in the summer. The melody has a hazier feeling as it brings the lazy heat of the summer to the soundscape. The lyrics dive into scrumping for fruit in the orchards and fields of the band’s hometown. There is an endless feeling to the melody that stretches into the distance, like the idea that summer will never end. The vocals are tinged with the haziness of the melody and the issues that come with indulging in these fruits. Later in the track, the melody drops for the vocals to shine with their slightly quirky feeling. Throughout the song, the lyrics are wonderfully descriptive, allowing you to really immerse yourself in the memory of the song.
The title track ‘Lads of Summer’ takes a different route as the band skips school to race twigs in the local brook. The birdsong in the opening leads you into the strummed guitar that is packed with happy sunlight that just calls for you to be outside and have fun. There is a wash of innocence to the melody and vocals that paint a sepia-tinged memory across your mind, like an old movie playing in your brain. As the song continues, you are hit with a light touch of melancholy as the knowledge that summer is coming to an end looms. The easy tones of the track have you smiling and feeling the freedom of childhood summer days resting in your chest.
The EP comes to an end with ‘Illuminations’ which brings the touch of nostalgia. The melody has you bopping from side to side, while the vocals bring a light rasp to the soundscape. There is a balance of happiness and sadness in the vocals as you remember the dreams you had as a child, only to realise that they might have always been unachievable. It is a rather bittersweet track that has you floating on happy memories, only to feel the tug of reality. You do feel the urge to lightly smile as you listen to the really relatable song, while sinking into the memories invoked by the music.
The Rec transport you back in time to summers spent in a small town by the sea, tinged with bittersweet nostalgia in Lads of Summer. The EP is packed with youthful energy tempered by the maturity that comes with time. Each song picks up a different memory, leading to the last track which brings the bittersweet emotions that come with remembering times long gone.
thanks very much Claudia – great review! Best wishes, Ritchie.