Don’t Wanna Die

My Federation

Pinnacle

2008-04-07

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My Federation are built around the particular talents of frontman Lee ‘Muddy’ Baker, sometime forger and car thief, who has had fingers in other more musical pies prior to this record having worked with Clearlake, Tim Booth and Beardyman variously as songwriter or producer.

Their debut LP leads from the front foot with the full-steam-ahead pop-soul of the title track, a brash cover of The Nazz’s Nugget’s-era garage rock classic (which loses some subtlety in translation but works well enough) and the Wonder Stuff-(cow)sized chorus of “What Gods Are These”.  Don’t Wanna Die is awash with treated vocals and harmonies, left turns, handclaps and synth squiggles, none more so than on “Honey Bee”. 

Awash with treated vocals and harmonies.

Sometimes throwing the proverbial kitchen sink at songs can be a way to hide weaker moments, but there is enough of a tune in the aforementioned tracks plus others, like the ELO meets The Hives racket of “Party Offenders”, for the LP to come out in credit. 

My Federation’s filtering of indie-pop through a techno-sheen and studio trickery isn’t particularly original (they’ve a long way to go to match the likes of the Super Furry Animals’ sonic invention and psychedelic charm) but it is forced through with passion and more than a suggestion of potential. File alongside St Helens’ The Loungs at the British indie-odd-pop vanguard.