The Apartments - the evening visits...and stays for years

The Apartments are an Australian band who released their debut album in 1985.  The opening track Sunset Hotel sets their stall out.  An acoustic guitar backed by piano picks out a blissfully moody Go-Betweens style melody with Peter Milton Walsh warbling melodramatically over it.  A bit of cello introduces Mr Somewhere, a downbeat track which wouldn't have been out of place on any of Lloyd Cole's albums.  What's The Morning For is very much in the vein of the Grant McLennan side of the Go-Betweens, and features some really fine guitar playing.  It's a tremendous opening trio of tracks, however the rest of the album doesn't quite measure up, and Walsh's voice is inclined to get wearing.  That's not to say the rest of the album has no merit, it's just not as good: the dramatic, angst-ridden All The Birthdays features doom-laden brass but is almost cartoon-like in its misery.  Speechless With Tuesday betrays a band who own all The Cure's albums, while the carefree guitar on Cannot Tell The Days Apart evokes the wide-eyed intricacies of early REM.  Lazarus, Lazarus is rockier, but the guitars jangle rather than riff (it WAS 1985).  So a decent album overall, with plenty of appeal for those who enjoy intelligent, moody pop.