It’s always terrible news when a band decides to call it a day, unless of course that band were the likes of One Direction, especially a band as precious as Tribes. The Camden four-piece brought us two stellar LPs that helped restore our faith in good old fashioned British guitar music. No gimmicks, no jazzy synths or artificial sounds; everything about Tribes was real. Over 6 months since their antagonising split, the band’s frontman, Johnny Lloyd, has gone solo, releasing a couple of tracks from his upcoming EP, Pilgrims; which, as expected, are pretty fucking excellent.
‘Dead Beat’ dips into stripped-back, restrained territory which serves as a total contrast from Lloyd’s tendency to create epic, crowd-pleasing choruses throughout his work with Tribes (‘Sappho’ and ‘When My Day Comes’ for a minor example). This track is delicate and beholds an intangible sense of fragility as a result of its barely-there, eastern-tinged guitar and Lloyd’s consistently well-crafted lyricism that never fails to get under your skin- “nothing is real, it’s just a catwalk.”
It isn’t until you hear ‘Pilgrims’, the EP’s title track, when you realise that Lloyd is quite clearly venturing into the unknown as a solo artist and leaving his infamous routes behind him. An exotic groove and sporadic use of synth go hand-in-hand to create an absolute masterpiece; not to mention the goose-bump-inducing guitar solo two and a half minutes in which sounds loosely like it could have been the work of Foals. The perfectly controlled track which maintains restraint throughout, has a slight eighties resonance which comes as a refreshingly pleasant surprise as it differs entirely from the anthemic-indie sound brought to us by Tribes.
Aside from the release of his debut solo EP, Johnny Lloyd appears to be holding his cards close to his chest in regards to what’s next for him as a musician. Although the material he has graced us with so far is somewhat ‘worlds apart’ from where he left off with Tribes, it’s obviously this is just the start for the Camden songwriter, and a long way off from the finish. For Tribes fans who are still in mourning, Lloyd’s solo return might just be the perfect counselling session to soften the blow caused by the loss of a truly valued, excellent and hugely underrated band, and who knows- he may gain some new fans along the way.
‘Dead Beat’ dips into stripped-back, restrained territory which serves as a total contrast from Lloyd’s tendency to create epic, crowd-pleasing choruses throughout his work with Tribes (‘Sappho’ and ‘When My Day Comes’ for a minor example). This track is delicate and beholds an intangible sense of fragility as a result of its barely-there, eastern-tinged guitar and Lloyd’s consistently well-crafted lyricism that never fails to get under your skin- “nothing is real, it’s just a catwalk.”
It isn’t until you hear ‘Pilgrims’, the EP’s title track, when you realise that Lloyd is quite clearly venturing into the unknown as a solo artist and leaving his infamous routes behind him. An exotic groove and sporadic use of synth go hand-in-hand to create an absolute masterpiece; not to mention the goose-bump-inducing guitar solo two and a half minutes in which sounds loosely like it could have been the work of Foals. The perfectly controlled track which maintains restraint throughout, has a slight eighties resonance which comes as a refreshingly pleasant surprise as it differs entirely from the anthemic-indie sound brought to us by Tribes.
Aside from the release of his debut solo EP, Johnny Lloyd appears to be holding his cards close to his chest in regards to what’s next for him as a musician. Although the material he has graced us with so far is somewhat ‘worlds apart’ from where he left off with Tribes, it’s obviously this is just the start for the Camden songwriter, and a long way off from the finish. For Tribes fans who are still in mourning, Lloyd’s solo return might just be the perfect counselling session to soften the blow caused by the loss of a truly valued, excellent and hugely underrated band, and who knows- he may gain some new fans along the way.
Written for PostMusicDepression.
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