Manchester-based Big Society, who started out as an indie rock n roll band before transforming into a far more ambitious group, have once again produced a quality record with “A Quick One, While We’re Waiting,” the title track from their new EP.
The song opens with strange, swirling synthesiser sounds that set the stage for a lovely acoustic guitar to kick off this slow burning epic. The band accompany it with a traditional, warm, indie vocal performance, one that is passionate in its lyrical delivery, but not overdone. Foley (recorded noises) are added and removed in layers throughout the song. The music has a subtle build and this progression has a melancholic, yet almost dreamlike aspect to it. Then it delivers what we’ve been waiting for, as the soft drumbeat and the guitar’s grumbling kicks the song into its slow swagger.
“A Quick One, While We’re Waiting” has a definite 1990s feel and progresses almost with a carefree spirit into what I’d describe as “a cigarette lighter album closer.” Supporting vocals call out behind the guitars. This song contains a very small number of vocal lines and, to me, sounds more like an arranged soundscape. This is good work and another banger from this great band.