  
London’s own Tellison kicked-off big style
in 2007 with their critically acclaimed and, more
importantly, infectious debut album Contact! Contact!
Now back to slay us all over again their hook-laden
pop-rock returns on album number two; The Wages
Of Fear.
The thing that first strikes you about Tellison
is that they are in fact a British band singing
in their god given British accents, it’s
a simple thing I know, but in this day and age
it’s rather rare and it makes Tellison so
bloody good. They sound natural, charming, and
even a little sophisticated.
Stephen Davidsons’ voice is as ever a note
perfect guide through the emotionally electric
earth Tellison’s music inhabits. His voice
doesn’t have much range, but the places
it does go are juvenile and pure; it’s hard
to hate. This energy and passion are reflected
in the lyrical content of every single song “my
life’s not much like a novel, because I
can’t find someone that’s worth real
sacrifice” they slip in and out of chorus
and verse like no other band around. It’s
seamless.
First single ‘Collarbone’ is a quick
and easy classic. Sharp punchy guitars halt themselves
for a whispery almost choral series of ‘oh-a-oh-oh-a-oh’s’.
Three minutes of escape is what this band is best
at, but any song on The Wages of Fear could be
a single. Tellison just don’t do filler.
The best word to describe this band has to be
cheeky. They slip references to each other into
songs purely because they can, on ‘Horses’
you’ll notice the famous Henry gets another
mention “it was a bad time of year for it
Henry had gone back to Boston” and yet this
a very serious song with the brilliant line “oh
how the world still loves a cage.”Contact!
Contact! was an insidiously fun record, this isn’t
so much fun this is the grown-up sophomore record
and they haven’t slumped yet.
In the wake of Everything Everything this album
will get much more widespread recognition than
did their debut and they deserve all the praise
they get. Even the softer songs here are brimming
with energy and the chant of “I’m
a cold young man, I don’t mean anything”
on ‘Tell It To Thebes’ feels so real.
A band as incessantly catchy as Tellison could
easily stray into annoying or clichéand
yet somehow they avoid this always remaining cool
and confident. With this very assured second album
their personal brand of almost-art-pop will propel
them into the mainstream and you better be ready
to forget everything you thought you knew about
pop-music.
4.5/5
Review by Lauren Mullineaux
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