The Mallard

A darker offering from Greer McGettrick’s The Mallard and on a sad note, also their swan song. The band amps the stark vibes and kicks in a nice dose of propulsion, that instantly separates this from their debut and side-steps the more refined moves on the inbetweener 12" that preceded this. The overall feeling is still subdued, with McGettrick’s voice buried in the mix rather than sparkling above, but the murky waters have always worked for the duck in the past, and so they do again. Subtle squalls of feedback and the occasional cavern of reverb keep Finding Meaning in Deference from resting on its post-punk laurels but at its heart the album embraces that tag, with a strutter chug that inspires its fair share of dancefloor jerkin' and shakin'. Though, mind you, any shaking would be on a dancefloor shrouded in shadow rather than bathed in a glow of disco ball shimmer. As there will be no tours to mop up fans just tuning in and no more goodbyes other than what Deference leaves to ponder, most will have to come to terms with the album between the needle and the grooves. In that respect the album is at its best when coming close to the band's quicker live pacing as on "Decade" or album closer "Iceberg". It’s an album received with a heavy heart, but definitely open ears.

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