Fat White Family’s career has been turbulent… to say the least. Frantically dancing the fine line of existence, it’s never quite clear whether every album will be their last. So with any Fat Whites’ musical addition, fans are pretty much just happy that they are making music, and this LP seems to be their most mature record yet.
Not that this means much, as debut LP Champagne Holocaust should really come with an 18-age rating and Songs for Our Mothers should be come with at least a 21-age rating. Whether it’s singing stripped back songs about Joseph Goebbels or punk tracks about bombing Disneyland, you could never really tell the band’s next move.
2019’s Serf’s Up was the sign of a band maturing slightly, but still keeping that ‘mentalness’ that makes them unique, and the result was their most successful work to date.
Fast forward five years and Forgiveness Is Yours has arrived, and is maybe the band’s most consumer-friendly work to date (in the context of their discography).
Tongue-in-cheek spoken word opener The Archivist seems like a standard way to start a Fat White Family opener, where you have no idea what to expect. John Lennon is a peaceful track that keeps you guessing as to what the build-up is going to lead to. The track showcases how well a flute can be used alongside a quirky production, that sort of keeps you on edge the whole track.
Lead single Bullet of Dignity is a dance-y indie tune with a tantalising bassline. It has this great riff in the chorus which almost feels Middle Eastern inspired. While Polygamy Is Only For The Chief showcases Lias Saoudi’s underrated vocal ability. Let’s face it, the guy isn’t winning the X Factor anytime soon, but he’s the perfect vocalist for the Fat White Family. Interestingly, the same track has these bizarre intense bridges within the track before coming back down to earth, alongside the frenetic vocal samples. It’s very psychedelic.
Visions of Pain continues the gentler and more psychedelic theme of this LP and Religion for One, a song described as a track about the “biggest c*nt you know” by Saoudi, is more melodic and has a more radio-friendly style. It’s another impressive display of Saoudi’s vocal improvements, with ambiguous lyrics about someone he hates to a rather peaceful tune – it’s quite pleasant.
Today You Become Man has more of a vintage Fat White Family sound. Saoudi’s spoken word aggression in a track about being circumcised is a hard lyrical listen but also intriguing, with an intensity that never seems to go away.
Feed The Horse has this enjoyable, programmed drum beat in the beginning, before reaching a pace where even the best finger drummers would struggle to keep up with. Like many tracks on this album, there is no structure whatsoever, but the band make it work to an extent.
But Fat White Family definitely make it work is on the next track, What’s That You Say, which has these lovely synths that flow throughout, going go hand-in-hand with an enticing bassline. Saoudi’s accompanying lyrics, “scratch that femi-ninety-eight, then show me to her head, now creep around your own back, once upon a’my mind, it was all so slack,” are as confusing as much as they’re enjoyable – it’s the highlight of the record.
A track that sounds straight off a Cure record, Work, (the bane of all our lives!), comes next in a song that essentially moans about the day-to-day reality of working a 9-5. In true Fat White Family style, the song sort of goes into its own intense pit of madness in the last minute or so.
Finishing the LP, You Can’t Force It is primarily a piano ballad. Saoudi’s husky voice carries this track in an almost ASMR style, with some nice piano and flute accompaniment. It’s a surprisingly gentle end to a Fat Whites’ album.
Overall, Forgiveness Is Yours is a fun record that maybe doesn’t reach the heights of Serf’s Up, but it’s a new more delicate style for the band who will hopefully still be together come a few years’ time.
7.5/10
Standout Tracks: Today You Become Man, Religion For One, What’s That You Say,
For Fans Of: Warmduscher, The Cure, Insecure Men
Written by: Joe Loughran
