A Strangely Charming, Peculiar, And Captivating Dive Into Another World For Anyone But ‘Cowards’

As they say, third time’s the charm, and Squid does anything but disappoint with finding yet another dimension to dive into musically and lyrically.

Much like their previous albums, it feels like dipping into a dystopian world, different in style but with the same goal of criticizing society. Experimenting more with synths and creating more unusual sounds, Squid’s newest album ‘Cowards’ feels like a dark tale, where the music leads the listener through a modern upside-down dreamworld, neither escaping nor being fully there.

Squid consists of vocalist and drummer Ollie Judge, guitarists Louis Borlase and Anton Pearson, with Laurie Nankivell on bass and trumpets and Arthur Leadbetter on keyboard. The Brighton-formed band has been around for nearly 10 years now and their longtime bond shows in their music. With their unique musical vibe and dark but honest lyrics, the songs speak for themselves. 

In ‘Crispy Skin’, the album opener, the up and down tempo of instruments is mixed with raw lyrics like “Am I the bad one? / Yep, yes I am / Thought it could change me / Well, here I am”. It lets the listener immerse themselves in a thoughtful mood of self-reflection.

When watching their official video to ‘Building 650’, the second song on ‘Cowards’, the essence of the whole album is brought into clear view. The video was directed by Felix Geen, Daisuke Hasegawa and Kuya Tatsujo in a metropolis in Japan. It shows the duality of the modern world with busy streets and lonely evenings, and the juxtaposition of having an empty and garbage filled home while showing one’s best side when out in bars with friends. The overviews of the city at one point go to burned snippets of the city, while shortly after the friends in the bar are found dead. These images paired with the lyrics “A flame could melt almost anything / Those plastic foods / On the windowsill / There is no taste / Just an empty gaze” leave the viewer in an alert and anxious state of mind, just like after watching a horror movie.

‘Blood On The Boulders’ gives a glance into the all-consuming need to always be updated through news, updated on the vile downside of human society. The alt-rock band goes on to blend seemingly light-hearted musical elements with dark twisty lyrics in ‘Fieldworks I’ and then proceeds to get even more bizarre in ‘Fieldworks II’ with a quite soft ending to it. Followed by ‘Cro-Magnon Man’ the album goes on with more synths and a heavier sound due to its focus on increased tempo, creating a frenetic inner feeling.

The title track ‘Cowards’ starts with eerie music, synths and notes of a saxophone, before gently moving on to the low rumble voice of Ollie Judge. “Polythene bags, they litter the streets / Polythene bags will never go away / Us dogs and rats will never escape” indicates the ugliness of the world, the trapped feeling of being caged in a self-constructed hell, and the modern world with its problems like capitalism. 

The second to last song ‘Showtime!’ starts with a slow and almost even rhythm, before switching to a more gripping one, that won’t let the listener leave this intriguing song. ‘Well Met (Fingers Through The Fence)’ plays with the catastrophic destruction of this world, where the kids are “Putting out fires and they're making new plans / They're washing their clothes with ash on their hands”. 

Squid once again expanded their own boundaries and experimented with their style. Each of the songs captures the unique feeling of the downside of this modern society. The third album ‘Cowards’ came out on February 7th, leaving enough time for the fans to get a feeling for this otherworldly new sound of theirs, before buying tickets to their upcoming shows over the next months. 

Kathrin Waschke

@glimpsebykaty

Image: Harrison Fishman

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