A Call And Response is the debut album by British indie rock band The Longcut, released in the UK on June 12th, 2006 through Deltasonic Records.
Previously, The Longcut released the extended plays âÂÂTransitionâ on November 29th, 2004 and âÂÂA Quiet Lifeâ on June 13th, 2005. A self-titled EP that combined the two soon followed up. The EP also featured the song âÂÂDVTâ on Australian versions.
After the albumâÂÂs release, the band put out the singles âÂÂVitamin Câ and âÂÂA Tried And Tested Methodâ on July 12th and on October 2nd of the same year, with the latter peaking at 76 on the UKâÂÂs physical singles chart for one week. Music videos were filmed for âÂÂTransitionâÂÂ, âÂÂA Quiet LifeâÂÂ, âÂÂVitamin CâÂÂ, and âÂÂA Tried And Tested MethodâÂÂ. The music video for A Tried and Tested Method was put up for vote on MTV2âÂÂs site for the NME Chart Show and was even featured on the top ten list.
Songs from the album aired on British radio station, Xfm as well as BBC Radio 6. Steve Lamacq would also make A Call And Response one of his records of the week. NME ranked the album at number 19 on the top albums of 2006.
In the summer of 2005, the band would begin to work on their debut album. Writing consisted of playing live with three or four keyboards on loop before layering on guitars and drums, then adding vocals in post. âÂÂA lot of pointless jamming goes on in our rehearsal room, but making sense out of all the chaos is a great feelingâÂÂ, says Ogilvie. Recording was split between Townhouse Studios, Konk Studios, and Mayfair Studios in London as well as Parkgate Studios in Sussex, with Jonny Dollar and Craig Silvey at the helm. The recording process went by quickly and work was finished in si weeks by October of the same year. The band initially joked about asking Dave Sitek (of TV On The Radio and Yeah Yeah Yeahs fame) to help with mixing, but they weren't sure if he was already busy at the time. Sitek originally knew nothing of the band but enjoyed the work that the band later sent to him.
Mixing took marginally longer time than recording and was done while the band was on tour around the United Kingdom, United States, and Japan. Initially, Silvey mixed the album but the band described his style as too âÂÂclinicalâ and went with SitekâÂÂs âÂÂdirtierâ sound instead. The Longcut themselves were also heavily involved in mixing and producing.
âÂÂThe Kiss Offâ and âÂÂA Tried And Tested Methodâ would be the first songs recorded in May of 2005 at the Townhouse, the latter of which ending up as a single. Many songs had both working and final titles taken from magazine headlines. In late August, âÂÂSpiresâ and âÂÂGravity In Crisisâ would be recorded with âÂÂTransitionâ soon proceeding. In between recording their songs, the band also played new material live to tease the upcoming tracks.
Many comparisons between The Longcut and other acts such as Joy Division, New Order, and The Rapture were made due to their minimal compositions and reverberated instruments. The band wanted to capture the energy of a live performance while layering textural soundscapes. Ogilvie would explain that their music is more about the bandâÂÂs attitude than a specific style stating âÂÂwe try not to do anything half-arsed basically. I think thatâÂÂs the most important thing about recording and everything.âÂÂ
The albumâÂÂs reception was generally positive but it also received multiple mixed reviews. Pitchfork praised the band for their restraint and usage of dynamics commenting that âÂÂthey nail dynamics as only bands who've sweat buckets together canâÂÂ, and âÂÂthe details The Longcut struggle over are more felt than heard, the band's tools-at-hand simpler and less predictable.â The BBCâÂÂs review was particularly appraisal citing that The Longcut was âÂÂthe most exciting bandâ of the last decade produced by Manchester.
Common criticisms were that each song meanders and drags. Leonie Cooper of the guardian would compare the album to âÂÂelevator musicâ while Sarah Boden of the same publication would call it âÂÂdarkâ and âÂÂeuphoricâÂÂ. MusicOMH praised the album for its atmospherics but also went on to say âÂÂlack of variation could be an accusation levelled against themâÂÂ.