Tribes made a big splash in their native U.K. with killer single “We Were Children” (QRO mp3 review), being called ‘the return of rock’ without being only a ‘return of rock’, and were booked for the NME Awards Tour (QRO review). Full-length Baby doesn’t quite match “Children”, but is still a solid debut.
The record opens with pseudo-title track “Baby+Whenever”, a good-if-not-too-original piece that only highlights how much better the following “We Were Children” is. Still, there are few pieces that rival “Children” on Baby, such as the relaxed, wry rock of “Sappho”. And if early-to-mid songs like the cheery “Corner of an English Field”, lighter “Halfway Home”, and excessive torch-psych “Himalaya” let Tribes’ promise down a bit, it’s picked up again on the back half with the slow & evocative rock “Nightdriving”, upswing & uplift rock “When My Day Comes”, relaxed indie “Walking In the Street”, and a big rock sway that works in closer “Bad Apple”.
Being called the ‘return of rock’ is too much for any band’s shoulders (and when did rock ever go away?…), and Tribes really couldn’t be as good on an LP as they were with the EP for “We Were Children”. But Baby is a strong first full step by a band we’ll be hearing more from.
MP3 Stream: “Sappho“
