Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Ashbury Keys last, for now, full album was released back in 2004 and as with their debut release, the follow up Dancers and the E.P. Wake Up that was to come, the music that this power-pop trio creates is of such a high standard, a cornucopia of quality that it feels such a shame that Growing Up was the last big piece of work by this incredibly likeable band.
The reason that as a listener or indeed if you had become a fan in the time it took Ashbury Keys to become of the biggest bands to come out of Texas you might feel slightly aggrieved at next year marks ten years since they last produced an album is because they are seriously that darned good and a prolonged time between major recordings, although warranted so that groups don’t burn out, can leave people frustrated.
Thankfully the four recordings do add up to some excellent output so at least the fan can get their Ashbury Keys fix and perhaps the coup-de-grace of them all is the third release Growing Up. It sizzles with aspiration, charms with precision and ultimately leaves the right desired effect which all albums strive for, leaving the listener keen for more.
From the mouth-watering openers of Eye To Eye and Dream, Growing Up steadily builds up a picture of a group who know they have worked damned hard, kept their faith in what they do well and come out on top. The music comes across like a prize fighter growling in the corner of a ring, staring at his opponent and daring for him to keep his shorts clean for at least three minutes, this is an album that doesn’t let the listener off the ropes all the way through it course. Even the cover on the album, the Mark James written and brilliantly delivered by Elvis Presley, Suspicious Minds gets a Southern states going over and whilst some covers leave the listener feeling off kilter and pining for days gone past, this version feels clean and enticing.
Growing Up is essentially that, an album that saw Ashbury Keys take that budding raw talent shown on their debut album and become fully rounded and excellent musicians. For the moment all we are left with is memories but things can change.
Ian D. Hall