Giant Killers: When This Time Is Over
Little Genius Recordings
Streaming / Download
Having staged the most unlikely of triumphant comebacks after an absence of three decades, Grimsby’s Giant Killers continue to defy the odds with their latest release.
The re-emergence of Giant Killers is the true-life feelgood story of the year, culminating in the launch of the (very) long awaited and critically acclaimed Songs For The Small Places album, which you can find out more about here. The now Brighton-based core duo of Jamie Wortley and Michael Brown are back with the release of the When This Time Is Over EP, which they describe as ‘Double A Side, Double B Side’ – two tracks lifted from the album and two previously unreleased. Those already familiar with the former will be aware of the high quality songwriting and musicianship with which the duo lovingly imbue their creations. But while the ‘bonus’ tracks may not have received quite the same degree of production, both are more than worthy of inclusion in their own right.
When This Time Is Over, the first song written by the duo for Giant Killers, is a quite beautiful celebration of youthful camaraderie and hedonism, tinged with the insightful realisation that nothing lasts forever. Appropriately enough for a lead single, it features a chorus which stays with you long after the song finishes;
‘When this time is over,
We will know what it’s like to love, be loved,
Fight, be fought, to be alive.’
This song quite literally gives you goose bumps and, by rights, should provide the boys with that long-overdue hit.
Billy The Kid, the second of the ‘A Sides’, is a tale of street-fighting lads, complete with urban spaghetti Western intro. As the concrete covers the open spaces and the kids grow into adults, some are bound by the mores of middle class conformity while others probably never stopped fighting;
‘Billy the Kid still waits for me,
To get him out of jail,
And Jack The Lad is Jack the man,
With wife and child.’
Giant Killers are born raconteurs, and Billy The Kid exemplifies their ability to deliver an engrossing story born of seemingly mundane and everyday situations.
Home Time Blue is another mini kitchen sink drama, contrasting choppy chord progressions with Jamie’s delicate vocals along with a hint of Quadrophenia-era Townsend lyricism. This is a typically poignant and evocative account of a beer-fuelled night out with the guys, followed by the reality of returning home to the crushing loneliness of an empty house devoid of the person you want to be with. We’ve all been there but, as ever, Giant Killers manage to drop you right back in the moment.
A Legacy Of Sorts, despite its upbeat delivery, is almost unbearably emotive. When this time really is over, the best we can hope for is that it was a life well-lived with the ones we love – Seasons In The Sun without the cheese meets the defiant optimism of My Way. A gorgeous and fitting conclusion to the EP which literally brings a tear to the eye.
This quartet of songs compliment one another perfectly, bittersweet symphonies of life which gently guide us from the cradle to the grave in inimitable Giant Killers style. And if that isn’t enough to tempt you, at least a quarter of all proceeds from every sale through Bandcamp will go to the suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably – a legacy of sorts in its own right.
Giant Killers Links: Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Youtube
All words by Robin Boardman. More writing from Robin for Louder Than War can be found at his author’s archive.
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