T.A.T (There’s Always Time) Debut Album YOU SUCK !!! Reviewed

When reviewing There’s Always Time’s EP ‘Breathe’ in 2024, I described the sound as dark, moody, Bauhaus-esque in tone and stalking like a cold shadow carrying a jagged-edged knife with vocals that reach Polystyrene-levels of pitch and passion. All of those components remain thoroughly present on debut album YOU SUCK !!!. Only now there’s a lot more to be found in There’s Always Time’s repertoire.

Of course, since ‘24 There’s Always Time has a lot more gigs under its belt—the band fast approaching the fifty show milestone—in the process playing with such punk luminaries as SUBHUMANS, Desperate Measures and Chelsea; the second at no less than the utterly incredible Prince Albert, Brighton, where no less than Charlie Harper was in the crowd; and the last as part of Chelsea’s 50 year celebration tour: all events that Graham remains totally surprised and humble about being involved in.

T.A.T has also had a line-up change with Natalie Thomas replacing Christ Guest on bass. Though some things don’t change: Graham surprised as ever that people like his band, this time in response to how varied the locations of those already pre-ordering the album (but more on why Graham thinks people won’t like his band below).

‘Yap Yap Yap’ starts with a load of chattering in a pub, before a wolf whistle causes an eruption like a giant wasps’ nest angrily exploding as the track launches into a punchy mantra about blokes thinking they’re getting one over on women to impress their mates, when in fact she can see right through him from the word go. The track rumbles, and at pace; combined with the vocals, it very much sounds like Sharon is more than willing to have a scrap about it too. Dickheads beware!

While each track is underpinned by the distinctive T.A.T sound, ‘Beach Bomb Baby’ leans very much in the direction of psychobilly. There’s some Cramps swagger, a lot of the apocalyptic sound so associated with The Meteors, plus something in the tone that says ‘surf’s up, grab a board and find the best peak’, as the lyrics—so typical of psychobilly—are a bit vague about the details while absolutely certain about the demise of someone if not everyone and thing.

Motoring with energy and purpose, ‘Outta My Head’—on the subject of being too shy to approach the object of one’s devotions—takes another direction to produce a song not too dissimilar to some of the gems found hidden away on early Blondie albums, while also carrying a similar gritty rock n roll vibe to The Damned.

‘Breathe’, being the title track of the EP, takes me back to the opening description—dark, moody, Bauhaus-esque in tone and stalking like a cold shadow carrying a jagged-edged knife—and again there remains the space in the sound that I found representative of the band hailing from small villages surrounded by seemingly endlessly running fields, yet despite all the openness feeling just as penned-in and trapped as anyone growing-up in the rigours of a big city.

‘Hate Them All’ is about as straight to the point as it gets: all political parties are wankers; and I don’t think Sharon reserves the accolade to just the three—Tories/Labour/Liberal—parties mentioned here (you can ask her if you dare). It’s a track about the lyrics and for their bluntness they’re extremely catchy; though the state of things these days, being caught walking round the supermarket absentmindedly singing them will more likely result in people joining in over being asked to leave.

Title track ‘You Suck’ is a rage against older bands that can’t be arsed to support the younger scene. Sound wise it’s reminiscent of Ukraine’s Death Pill and more so early Iron Maiden: impossible to decide of it’s punk or metal, the sound underpinned by a rampantly driving bass line, melodic riffs riding across the top, gritty vocals and punchy drums chasing the whole thing along.

‘Fight Song’ is a hilarious dual vocal track that has Sharon argue back and forth with Graham over aspects of the band, the culmination being the former telling the latter to sling their hook in no uncertain terms. It’s another change of direction, and to understand it warrants some context:

In 1980, Graham Watts lived in the little South Gloucestershire village of Wick. He followed SUBHUMANS—a band from just over the road in Wiltshire—everywhere; punk providing something that couldn’t be found elsewhere in life. Inspired, he and some school mates formed a band.

The band managed to get a few recordings down with Graham singing before another member met an experienced guitarist who just happened to be looking for a new band to work with; he was welcomed into the fold and instantly became integral. Unfortunately for Graham, though, the new guitarist had some firm ideas about where things needed to go and the sound of Graham’s voice wasn’t the direction; just like that Graham was out.

Graham felt like his band had been hijacked; that he wasn’t good enough; that he’d been put in his place; that life held little more than low end grind and drudgery. He wanted nothing more than to be up on stage and out on tour with his mates. The band went on to become UK thrash legends Onslaught.

Not one to hold grudges, Graham was a roadie for them for a bit.

Fast forward to 2016 and Graham was a roadie again, this time for wife Sharon and friend Mary Ball as the acoustic act Kickin Sistas. He’d also gained plenty of confidence thanks to helping Sharon’s son in activities focused on kids with ADHD. This brought Graham into contact with BMX riding as a team sport. Here he noticed a culture of Haves vs. Have Nots and became determined to represent the underdog; an endeavour that saw his team of underprivileged kids win the South West Championship three times in the ten years he ran the team.

When the Pandemic happened lockdown meant Graham suddenly found himself with more time on his hands than he’d known since age fifteen. He felt life was slipping away, that if he was ever to realise his dream of being the one on stage, he needed to do something about it, so got a drum kit.

To confront the decades old thoughts of nothing he did being good enough, Graham used his new found confidence to upload footage of his having a bash to YouTube so as to get out of his comfort zone, frequently receiving positive feedback where he didn’t think any was due.

When the Pandemic was over, Graham decided to take the plunge by asking in a FB group if anyone fancied a jam; he got an affirmative within a couple of hours from initial bassist Chris Guest. Sharon went along to the first meet to offer support only to end up penning lyrics for a song the very same night. Another request then saw George McDonald join the jams.

And the rest is history (and also explained above in this post, hehe).

The end result is captured across YOU SUCK !!!’s ten tracks superbly; a band that wants to record and play for the love of it and as long as everyone listening is having a good time, then all the better.

It’s perhaps best described as a Zen outcome. There’s no agenda beyond wanting to play and have people enjoy it, and by developing like this T.A.T has absorbed the audience response, understood it and made it the foundation to build on. If T.A.T go political it’s in a stomping way that will have the audience singing along; if the direction is a frustrated love story then there’s a finesse to be found that recognises the fragility even if the tune remains just as punk as ever; and if they decide to laugh at each other, then the listener finds themselves laughing along too.

There’s much to be learned from the T.A.T story, even a sense of Zen in the name. Given everything, it wouldn’t have been amiss for the band to have named itself Now Or Never; but while having a very hardcore/punk vibe, there’s a fatalistic aspect to that particular sentiment that just doesn’t exist in the words There’s Always Time. Realise the depth of difference and the T.A.T philosophy is understood.

‘No Way Out’ is another track to have featured on the EP. A bolshy bruiser that swaggers with sharp-eyed attitude, it really brings home the sense of being trapped by acres of open land; a converse idea to a London type like me, but one that can be really felt in the sound here as it captures living in a world only ever seen on TV. A dance-floor filler for sure, the only question: will it be goths swaying ever more morbidly to Sharon’s shrieks while swathed within dry ice or punks stomping a path to mosh pit oblivion rallied by the very same cry?

‘Zombie Karting Nun’ races back to the psychobilly with utterly bonkers lyrics and a cool slick sound that takes me all the way back to Klub Foot in the Eighties while equally sounding fresh as a risen from the dead daisy. One thing I haven’t mentioned yet is the production, the phenomenal job it’s done of creating perfect layers and tones; a fine example being how the surf vibe again runs through the sound to such extent it feels as though the vocals come from the beach, while the lead guitar is on a wave ridden behind it.

The album finishes with live bonus track ‘Bitch’, a raucous straight-to-the-point-no-holds-barred rock n roller showcasing the raw ball of burning energy T.A.T is on stage. It leaves no doubt that the band—despite sill being relatively new and having an age range between 40 to 60 with the majority falling into the latter side of things—is fully able to hold its own with any other, the excitement and enthusiasm for what’s being done burning just as brightly as it would’ve all those years ago. Maybe even more so.