London’s indie rock outfit Spector spent the first weeks of 2022 celebrating the release of their long-awaited third studio album, Now Or Whenever. With lots of new music, ambitious touring plans, and the band’s tenth anniversary just around the corner, this promises to be an exciting year for Spector. The Indiependent revisits their discography, now spanning more than fifty songs across three albums and three EPs, and hand-picks the ten most remarkable tracks.
10. ‘This Time Next Year’
If there is one thing Spector have mastered over their decade-long career, it is loud, catchy anthems geared for arenas. But on ‘This Time Next Year’ from their new LP, the four-piece abandon their trusted go-to tricks and strip the song down to an acoustic guitar. It is not a usual Spector track, but that’s what makes it so special: against the backdrop of their explosive and carefully-crafted back catalogue, this ballad is like a fascinating black and white photograph. With a simple but beautiful melody, barely any production on Fred Macpherson’s vocals, and somber lyrics, ‘This Time Next Year’ is breathtakingly tender.
Best lyric: “Rhododendrons on the henge / A suicide pact with a friend / You still check in on now and then”
9. ‘Grey Shirt & Tie’
One of Spector’s early singles from their debut album, Enjoy It While It Lasts, arrived in 2011 to mixed reviews. Over the years, however, ‘Grey Shirt & Tie’ has become a fan-favourite and earned a frequent spot on the band’s live setlist, and deservedly so. Its poetic lyrics evoke a strange kind of nostalgia, perhaps for a place and time that never existed, while the restraint in melody and production stops the track from crossing over into the cheesy radio-pop territory. This balance made ‘Grey Shirt & Tie’ age like fine wine. The song makes for a wonderful sing-along and truly blossoms live. Its synths are instantly recognisable and the drums dramatically thunder over a crowd.
Best lyric: “But you still sleep in the attic / Of your parents’ empty house / Out on the outskirts / Of an otherwise pleasant city / Happy memories cast shadows on today”
8. ‘When Did We Get So Normal?’
Spector’s 2020 EP, Extended Play, features some of the band’s best work, and even if the music is not as memorable as on the albums, the EP deserves attention for its lyrics alone. ‘When Did We Get So Normal?’ is a classic example of Macpherson’s songwriting, a charming mix of humour and nonsense. It’s debatable whether trips to Cornwall and shopping at Marks & Spencer should be described as the epitome of being normal, but to each their own. Spector clearly had a lot of fun with this song, and its light-hearted attitude immediately puts you in a good mood.
Best lyric: “When did we get so normal? / I thought that we were immortal / We started going to Cornwall / Oh, when did we get so normal?”
7. ‘Chevy Thunder’
It was ‘Chevy Thunder’ that launched Spector into stardom so early in their career. Their 2012 breakthrough hit still incites comparisons to The Killers, though the two bands have little in common anymore. ‘Chevy Thunder’ is Spector unleashed, their fastest song that makes a live audience go wild at every show. Inspired by Franz Ferdinand, Editors, and other guitar bands of the early 2000s, Spector packaged a layer of self-loathing into stadium-sized euphoria and power chords, making ‘Chevy Thunder’ a beast of a song that easily survived the erosion of time over the past ten years. With the ongoing revival of guitar music, it will probably do another ten just as effortlessly.
Best lyric: “I’m not what you want / You fell in love with an idea / And I was never never never enough / Tonight I’m riding out of here”
6. ‘Country Boy’
Released in late 2021 as a standalone single, ‘Country Boy’ got quickly overshadowed by the advent of Spector’s new album. It is interesting to see if it will someday find a proper home or turn into an obscure gem praised mostly by the hardcore fans. Either way, the track showcases some of Spector’s finest songwriting that we would love to see them lean into more often. Rich Turvey’s production is gorgeous, with sprinkles of shoegaze on the chorus that truly enhances the song’s gloomy vibe. Addressing the all too familiar feelings of doom exacerbated by the pandemic, Spector have never sounded so serious, so ominous, and so captivating.
Best lyric: “Lost a Scorpio to Cancer in July / Maybe our horoscopes were all lies / And autumn leaves a bad taste in my mouth / Tell the flock to pack their bags and fly south”
5. ‘Kyoto Garden’
Another delicate ballad, ‘Kyoto Garden’ stands out from the rest of Spector’s discography because it wasn’t supposed to be there. Fred Macpherson originally wrote it for someone else, but fortunately, the band decided to keep it for their 2015 record Moth Boys, where it fit perfectly. With its detailed storytelling and intricate production, ‘Kyoto Garden’ channels a cinematic, almost meditative atmosphere and plays like a romantic drama soundtrack. For your own main character moment, head to the Kyoto Garden in London’s Holland Park, where the song is set.
Best lyric: “Remember when you found me girl / Lying tripping in the park / We watched the universe unfold / From the Kyoto Garden after dark”
4. ‘Never Fade Away’
Spector got everything right on their 2011 debut single, which became the blueprint for a lot of their songwriting. The band’s flair for larger-than-life choruses, melodramatic drums and shimmering synths goes all the way back to ‘Never Fade Away’. Why change something that works? The song is a permanent resident on Spector’s setlist, the ultimate concert closer and crowd pleaser. Its simple but earnest lyrics and a catchy beat guarantee a wholesome live experience: songs like this make 100-cap venues feel like stadiums and remind you that music — and life in general — is amazing.
Best lyric: “You know I’ll never fade away / But if I do, it’ll be because you asked me to”
3. ‘An American Warehouse in London’
Blazing through its six-minute runtime, ‘An American Warehouse in London’ employs everything that makes Spector great. Few modern bands are as devoted to themes of nostalgia, memory, and the passage of time as them. The London four-piece are excellent at capturing this bittersweet and deeply human experience, which they’ve done again on ‘Norwegian Air’, ‘Do You Wanna Drive?’ and other songs on Now Or Whenever. Like any good closing track, ‘An American Warehouse in London’ encapsulates the essence of the record, but it sounds just as great out of context. With its distinct music line and thought-provoking lyrics, it’s likely that the song will live on to become another timeless fan-favourite.
Best lyric: “Was it the age? / Was it the creeping fear of the empty stage? / How much do they pay? / And how much of us will be left when they get here?”
2. ‘All The Sad Young Men’
The lead single from the Moth Boys LP is undoubtedly the band’s greatest hit. Seven years since the release, it still sounds fresh, a quintessential Spector song loved by fans and critics alike. “I’m getting bored of all these songs I write,” Macpherson declares in the opening verse, his tenor voice consumed by droning synths. ‘All The Sad Young Men’ is portentous and self-indulgent, but Spector have always had a flair for the dramatic, which is why this song works. No other indie band of this caliber would unironically release something like this. “If you’re okay with that song, you’re going to be able to listen to the rest of the album,” the singer explained in an interview.
Best lyric: “Do you like my clothes? / My hair? / My conversation? / Did you hear me when I said you were the inspiration? / It’s all meaningless now / As it was meaningless then / All the miserable girls / All the sad young men”
1. ‘Reeperbahn’
‘Reeperbahn’ was never meant to become what it is. Written long before its time, the short and fast-paced ode to a night out in Hamburg eventually made it to Moth Boys. But as Spector placed ‘All The Sad Young Men’ atop the track list, inviting everyone to tune in, ‘Reeperbahn’ ended up hidden at the bottom of the album’s deluxe version, a bonus track shared like a treasure only between those who cared enough to look for it. ‘Reeperbahn’ may not be consistent with the rest of Moth Boys, but the album only benefited from it. According to Macpherson, ‘Reeperbahn’ “perfectly captures the energy” of where they were around one of their tours. There’s something intangibly magnetic about the track: its youthful exuberance is infectious, and its lack of musical pretense makes for a truly enjoyable listen. It just sounds so unapologetically fun.
Best lyric: “11 Euros in loose change / Baby, could you be my baby every day / Baby, could you take me seriously / I’m an international man of misery”
Words by Marie Oleinik
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