The Apple

Hot on the heels of their SAMA-nominated debut album ‘City Of Strange’, comes New Academics’ second release in as many years.

‘The Apple’ sees the blossoming foursome ply their trade with undiluted sincerity, steering clear of pseudo Americanism and cheesy, irrelevant lyrics and predictable instrumentalism; dreary dynamics synonymous with bands that infuse rap and rock.

Joe Penn and crew are proud of their heritage and originality, flaunting it confidently as they take listeners on a 12-track journey complete with pertinent, humorous lyricism that is sure to bring a wry smile to proudly South Africans and cynical would-be expats.

Complementing Penn’s lyrical prowess and cocky approach, is the funk-laden guitar work employed by David Baudains and bold bass chords courtesy Martin Labuschagne.

Dotted with religious references, bounding with understated stabs at society and not short on questionable profanity, Penn and crew are far from timid in the way they deliver their sermon.

‘Big Wide Open’ and ‘Balcony Confessional’ typify the band’s funk persuasion, while it’s ‘Late Night Dancer’ and ‘In Transit’ that are mostly likely to get heels kicking and hips cavorting.

A likeness to the vocal style employed by fellow countrymen Bed On Bricks wouldn’t go amiss for ‘Dreamtime Soldiers’ and even the most dutiful congregant has to have a nervous giggle at the title track’s take on Jesus’ return to earth.

Baudains hails ‘Nervous Passengers’ as his favourite, citing the negative and overly sensational media as the fire that fuelled the song’s birth.

The embellishing souls promoting New Academics’ latest offering would love you to believe their hype in hailing ‘F*ck For Freedom’ as “places roamed by bands such as Muse and Queens Of The Stone Age”. Alas, though there are fractional smidgens of such iconic influence on the controversial track, such an assessment is destined to bitterly disappoint.

Whether or not ‘The Apple’ manages to better its predecessor’s reception and subsequent sales remains to be seen, but in the meanwhile the creative quintet and their growing following can bask in an album a zealous tweak or two short of international standard.