Iron On - Oh The Romance

Wed 21st Sep, 2005 in Music Reviews

Iron On’s Oh The Romance is the debut album for this quartet of Brisbane rockers and it is a simultaneously gritty and pretty offering. More aptly, it is quintessential rock and roll with lush melodies one minute and enormous choruses the next – a good combo by anyone’s standards.

The band have toured a lot since forming in 2002 and have already supported the likes of Sleater-Kinney, The Shins, Ben Kweller, Magic Dirt, The Superjesus, Giants of Science and Origami (to name but a few).

On Oh The Romance, the follow-up to the band’s second EP, Everybody Calm Down, producing heavyweight Magoo (Regurgitator, Midnight Oil, Jebediah) went along for the ride and the end result is pretty darned impressive, offering up gigantic walls of sound interspersed with quieter indie rock.

One of the best features of this album is the dual vocal work of Kate Cooper and Ross Hope. Both have a raw quality to their voices that adds to the appeal of the jangly guitars (Learn Today Earn Tomorrow) and pop-rock sensibilities (Reckless Pronto, High Miami High) that permeate some of the tracks.

Iron On knows how to change it up too. Playing Hard To Want is a good example of this, whereby slow emotive verses give way to big, rocking choruses. Keeping Up Appearances is an example of the reverse – the ripping intro of distorted (yeah, baby) guitars and bashed drums breaks away into inoffensive pop-rock.

Two of the best tracks on this release are There’s A Shirt Of Yours At My House, which is resplendent with thick, triumphant guitars and bruising drums, and album closer More Than Tape, which contains muted guitars and vocals and plodding drums. It is an intriguing and effective song, offset by the guitars that kick in with more urgency later in the track.

On the other side of the spectrum is Hearts, a languid pop song that is softer in delivery and shows a more sensitive (but not in a cheesy way!) side of the band. It also illustrates that the band are more than capable of turning things down a notch without losing any of their appeal.

As far as first albums go, this one doesn’t leave much to be desired. It is indicative of a band whose members don’t hide behind their guitars and are as willing to display hearts-on-sleeves moments as they are to assault your eardrums. The interchange is seemingly effortless, and keeps things fresh and exciting.

Oh The Romance is a release definitely worthy of your time.