Album-Review: Squid – Cowards

Windmill scene's third band in-line after Black Country, New Road and black midi have arrived at their studio third album. So far, Squid haven’t missed. With the lead-up to “Cowards”, I saw myself being skeptical though. Not that I expected a bad album, but it certainly seemed like the band was stepping off the gas for the new era in their discography. My intuition proved to be spot-on in a way. While “Cowards” certainly and fortunately isn’t a bump in quality in Squid's catalogue, the band does play it a little more slowly overall, continuing the evolution they started with their amazing sophomore record, “O Monolith”. Ollie Judge's vocal delivery has gotten even less intense and explicitly expressive on “Cowards”, though that isn't meant to mean his performance wasn't intense, but it is exemplary that he is supported by more soft female backing vocals than ever before. And by extension, this is Squid's most palatable record sonically so far.

Another evolution that carries on from “O Monolith” is Squid's use of electronic textures and Krautrock influences. “Cowards” is a very colorful record in that sense and these elements of instrumentation, furthermore including saxophone, funky bass grooves and more, keep Squid's experimental spirit alive and well despite “Cowards” being more accessible. Nonetheless, the album is gonna be met with similar critiques as “O Monolith” from Squid fans as it isn’t nearly as eccentric and aggressive as their beloved debut, “Bright Green Field”.

Suffice to say, I am a fan of this album once again – not as much as I was of “O Monolith”, but more than I was of “Bright Green Field”. I'm not sure yet though, if “Cowards” will have staying power until the end of the year. It is a small step back songwriting-wise from the highlights of “O Monolith” after all and it doesn’t really make me want to come back to it on the regular. “Cowards” is an album that is super intriguing while it's on, but not one I'm giving much thought to outside of its playing time.

One song that I think will stick with me is the opener “Crispy Skin”, which was also the lead-single to the album, and stands tall as one of the best songs Squid have released so far. After the fun “Building 650”, the album does somewhat fall into a slump. “Blood on the Boulders” does have a great tune and lots of tension at its core, but the execution, especially structurally, doesn’t keep me fully locked-in front to back. It's even worse with the duology of “Fieldworks I” and “Fieldworks II”. Both are solid, don’t get me wrong, but they are also among the least impressive pieces of Squid's entire catalogue.

The really great stuff is to be found in the second half of the album, which doesn’t have any weak spots. “Cro-Magnon Man” is a fantastically textural song with all its electronic jingling and the vocal production and mixing is really cool too. The song does get a little stale by the end, but that is not a huge problem to my ears. 
The last three songs are all excellent and get progressively better and better. The title track is easily the most beautiful song by Squid yet with a chill-inducing instrumental drop at 2:22 of its runtime. “Showtime!” starts in this typical, ominously groovy space and then switches into a long build-up assisted by some electronic beeps and boops that will have you floating by the end. And finally, at over 8 minutes, the album finds a worthy ending almost on the level of its opening in “Well Met (Fingers Through the Fence)”, an absolutely gorgeous Post-Rock song with beautiful saxophone and lead melodies. This final section of “Cowards” is truly impressive and makes up for the somewhat rocky start and middle portion. By the end of it, you really feel like you've been taken on journey more than with any other Squid record. The band's evolution here has convinced me once again and I'm still – and I wouldn’t necessarily have thought that in the lead-up – totally on board and eager to find out where they go next. “Cowards” might be a bit of a transitional record for them and its great quality just showcases how good Squid are; certainly one of the best Art Rock band around right now!

Track listing & Song ratings

1. Crispy Skin | 100 ★
2. Building 650 | 80
3. Blood on the Boulders | 70
4. Fieldworks I | 70
5. Fieldworks II | 70
6. Cro-Magnon Man | 80
7. Cowards | 90 ★
8. Showtime! | 90
9. Well Met (Fingers Through the Fence) | 90 ★