After receiving widespread praise for an album, many bands freeze when they have to follow it up. For Augie March that must have been a very real danger. Self-doubt has often dogged them in the past. But, happily, the acclaim that greeted Moo, You Bloody Choir appears to have given them just the encouragement they needed. Aside from some markedly improved live shows, their renewed faith has delivered a splendid fourth album.
Taken as a whole, Watch Me Disappear is a confident journey through lush instrumentation and juicy melodies. The route is sometimes direct (e.g. the borderline powerpop of ‘Farmer’s Son’ and ‘Becoming Bryn’) and sometimes meandering (‘Mugged by the Mob’, ‘Dogsday’). And, as you’d expect, there are scenic detours along the way (the off-kilter romp ‘City of Rescue’ carries the same disturbing menace as The Zutons while, conversely, the brass-infused nursery rhyme ‘Pennywhistle’ is cute as a button).
The album winds down with the nostalgic ‘Lupus’ (where the Melbourne five-piece appears to have raided Neil Finn’s magic box of tricks) and finally eases to a gentle halt with the reflective, piano-led ‘The Devil in Me’. It’s a quietly assured ending from a band oozing with self-belief.
The album title, and the lack of a killer single, are the only things here that don’t live up to Moo, You Bloody Choir.
Article by Andy McLean. Copyright held by author.
First published in The Brag, Sydney, 2008.
Watch Me Disappear is available through Sony BMG.
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