Fear of Men - Loom (2014)

Review by Fred Thomas [-]

When British indie pop unit Fear of Men collected the best moments from their small-run cassette and 7" releases on 2013's Early Fragments, they offered a wider audience a messy but incredibly compelling look into their still incubating world of dark themes and spellbinding melodies. Formed by a couple of art-school kids, the young group entwined the sound of dreamy-eyed lesser-known shoegaze acts like Curve and Lush with the broken optimism and beleaguered pop genius of the Smiths, all supporting vocalist/lyricist Jessica Weiss' jarringly direct lyrics of existential angst and emotional bankruptcy. While the lyrics veered quickly toward bleakness, the band's way with hooks and jangly guitar parts covered that dread with a sheen of sugar and resulted in one of the stronger collections of early singles in the indie canon. Channeling the energy from something as brilliant as Early Fragments into a proper debut album was a tall order, but Loom, Fear of Men's first record not culled from previously released material, not just keeps the momentum, but builds on it. The rough-around-the-edges feel of those early tracks was part of what made the band so intriguing, but Loom replaces that raw energy with a heightened confidence and deeper self-awareness. No longer trying on various hats, Fear of Men have a more defined approach on these songs, taking the best elements from their strongest songs and expanding the scope of both composition and production.