Everyone knows the Moon is made of cheese. I know the idea didn't originate with Wallace & Gromit but it's hard not to imagine them when listening to Icarus, the second track on The Tender Comrades' A Tender Anthology, and I suspect the the song intentionally evokes the man/dog duo. I'm not saying that the relationship between a man and his hyperintelligent dog is comparable to that between a man and his son, but it does feel fitting that The Tender Comrades are, in fact, a father/son duo and I'm not ashamed to say that I am picturing them as Wallace & Gromit when I imagine them working on this album together.
The reason being that the album notes explain that they have been learning how to create music together from scratch, and it's that DIY spirit that I think they share in common with Aardman's iconic characters. As for the music, the notes are correct in saying that it is imperfect, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a tonne to love about it anyway.
A Tender Anthology is a collection of 14 songs that, despite the title, flows pretty well as a singular album. There isn't a single song here that sounds out of place, not even the obvious one that I'll get to in due course. These songs are primarily acoustic pop songs with drum machines and the odd electric guitar here and there added for texture. There is absolutely no mistaking that this music was made in England, although if Irishman In Birmingham is to be believed, Comrade the Elder hails the other side of the Irish Sea.
Several of these songs, like opener Sleep Tonight, I Don't Believe, and This Is England, are protest songs and more often than not quite explicit in their meaning. Songs about misplaced spending, political distrust, and rising bigotry and hatred. Song that touch upon subjects I feel strongly about. Despite that, or perhaps as a result of my own personal political exhaustion, it was the more subtle songs with different subject matter that resonated with me more. I was surprised that Maggie was not about the former Prime Minister but was instead a sad tale about a life turned sour and cut short through violence. Then there was Jennifer Against The World, a Pixies-esque pop song about the Comrade Mother (I assume), which I really loved.
Another highlight that I alluded to earlier, and a total oddball inclusion on this album, is Stemtetrapod. This one has a guest vocalist, Angharad Pearce, who absolutely smashes it. But the song immediately sound very familiar to me. It's Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan, except about an extinct walking fish thing. I had to look it up, and apparently there's a meme where "Stem-tetrapod" is sung to the tune of Roan's opus, and I guess this is that but fleshed out to fit the whole song. Anyway, it's great, I listened to it multiple times, but obviously it helps that the original song bangs.
Are there problems with the album? Well, nothing major, but there was one thing that did bother me. There's a song here called Fears For Tears, and it's good. It's a good song for sure. It's big and groovy and references Tears For Fears and I'm all about that. The problem is that it highlighted something I had been aware of throughout the entire album but was willing to let slide. See, the vocals on this album are mostly fine but there's definitely a lack of power there. It's charming most of the time, but when this song hits its climax, it just seemed to fall a little short of the mark. If you're singing "Shout, let it all out, these are the things I can do without" in a song like this, I want you to actually shout it. I was begging for the song to sound bigger but it doesn't quite get there.
Not a huge deal, the song is still very good, it just felt like Comrade the Elder didn't quite let rip the way I wanted him to.
All in all I really enjoyed the album, and it truly is really nice that this guy is making music with his son and this other guy is making music with his dad, and it feels like they really share a vision for what they are trying to achieve.