reviews:

I don't think you can really call The Guild League Tali White's "side project" any more, can you? This is the band's third album, after all, and they're easily as prolific as The Lucksmiths. I'd heard - or seen, I suppose - a song from this album back in October time. It's called Suit Fits, and it's amazing, and it's on here. And I'm going to go on about it a bit, because it's the best Guild League track EVER. Wow. 1. It contains the lyric "I'm shining shit 'til it's in style". 2. And then that's rhymed with: "I'm head minister in the ministry of style". 3. Tali White sings like he's giving someone a proper bollocking. 4. There's this great bit he breaksitdownnow, and sort of raps. 5. The ending is completely jubilant. I like a jubilant ending. Anyway, that's five reasons in song that you should buy this album immediately. Others include delicate little flowers like The Idea, or the jazzy pop of Where's the Colour. Limited Express is another highlight. It revisits White's pet subject of travelling and architecture and landscape. It's a real joy to listen to songs that talk about places where ordinary people live. Limited Express acts as a kind of four minute soap opera about trains whizzing through towns. And that's what all good songs should be about, isn't it? It's one of pop's joys that The Guild League are around. To me, they're a sort of nifty secret that gets told every three years or so. Speak Up probably won't feature very prominently in indiepop tittle-tattle, but that's sort of fine by me.   --A Layer of Chips

Just about everything about The Guild League can be summed up in one word: understated. There's not much press on this indie-pop band from Melbourne, Australia, though frontman Tali White is also associated with a more well-known act, The Lucksmiths. Unlike its better-known counterpart, The Guild League plays mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, and has seemed content to produce music that, while beautiful, is the lowest of low-key while still qualifying as rock. With its new album Speak Up, however, The Guild League takes its own advice, kicking the beats up a notch and allowing some of its sounds to cut loose. Leading in with a rubber-band guitar riff, the ska-heavy "Mouse vs. Mountain" from the start anticipates a foot-tapping chorus, complete with brass, handclaps and "oh-la-la" backup vocals. But, as if to remind listeners that he's not singing for The New Pornographers, White blankets the tune with his perpetually wistful voice and some surprisingly hope-tinged predictions. "Our day will come," he sings, adding, "We're the real story in your so-called news." At the beginning of a year that could use some optimism, it's a bit of empowerment that's timelier than the band could have anticipated.  --NPR Song of the Day

As we cope with an "official" recession, we're all going to have to learn to make cutbacks, figure out how to do more with less and work with what we have. Australia's The Guild League is here to show us that's not necessarily a bad thing. Further trimming its lineup, from seven down to six members for Speak Up, its third full-length, the League is all about cutbacks and layoffs. Following a massive re-organization after its debut, which trimmed its workforce by nine members -- reducing it from a 16-piece to a seven-piece outfit -- that's some heavy-duty restructuring just about every corporate hatchet-man should be able to respect. It might be a little unfair to say that The Guild League got rid of dead wood for Speak Up, but the album's the band's best yet, layoffs or no layoffs. Led by singer/guitarist Tali White (who also serves as drummer on The Lucksmiths' board of directors), the League finds a bit of backbone and stiff upper lip that we're not used to running across in the twee/bedroom pop world. As a saxophone and trumpet add a bit of distinction to the band's otherwise pretty Lucksmiths-y sound, White steers Speak Up through all the melodies you'd expect from any project with ties to the Lucksmiths and Matinée Records. Even down a member from its sophomore set, Inner North, the League never seems to be feeling the pinch from its slimmed-down operation. "Mouse Vs. Mountain" is an underdog's anthem buoyed by the persistent blasts of the band's brass that are just enough to tempt it out of twee-pop territory and into something that checks jazzy '60s lounge. "Where's the Colour?" goes deeper into swinging London territory, injecting more classic lounge into the band's still-solid base of indie-pop. "17 Summer" is a slippery look back on youthful love built on top of fuzzed-out guitars that hint at C85 shoegaze and lo-fi, while "If Not Now" is classic guitar pop -- reared on everything from The Beach Boys to (of course) The Lucksmiths -- with the band's brass section adding yet another layer of melody to the final mixdown. If The Guild League can continue to perform so well under the constraints imposed on them by the personnel cutbacks between albums, can't we all try to make due with just a little less these days? It's apparently not hard to do at all.   --Aversion.com

The Guild League has been a band, not just a one-person show, for a while now, but still I have a tendency to think of it as the Lucksmiths' Tali White's travelogue side project. That's based on strong impressions set by the first album, where he set travel-journal entries to song. I had that tendency until now – their third album Speak Up washed that clear away. It's not just that there's clearly a band playing now: a six-piece band, with rock instruments that fill the songs up and horns that burst in and make it tempting to use the word 'ska". It's also the outlook of the songs themselves. These are not first-person journal entries; they look outward to society, call out to people. It's activism music, not with one agenda, but a populist call to 'let our voices be heard'. Speak Up opens with an underdog anthem, a song declaring that we're ready to be the nagging annoyance that tirelessly bugs the powerful. It's a hopeful song, too: 'one day our day will come / that's one thing you can count on." The next song asks, 'if not now then when? / if not you then who? / can I get a witness?" If outspoken leader seems an unlikely role for White, he wears it well. He doesn't just sing out his positions -- for hope over cynicism, heart over cold logic, people over profits – as if they are simple routes for everyone to take. He conveys the difficulties of these choices. But the Guild League's music also embodies the side they're on. This is a firecracker of an album that explodes with the boisterous sound of hope. The most sullen songs on Speak Up don't have that more low mood to signify sulking. They project the contemplation that goes into these struggles. They're weighted with thought, with the mulling over direction and choices and consequences that goes on within each living person. In a way the album continually tracks an attempt to break out from the dull existence that it can be easy to slip into. White's lyrics describe that complacent state as clearly as the alternative. On 'Where's the Color", he paints a vivid picture: 'smoke-smell clings to sweat-soaked jeans / once you spoke well / now you lean and sway / and the day dies unfulfilled / unseen." The observant side of lyric-writing that the Lucksmiths consistently nail is present here too. And even their recent interest in bird-watching; in 'Limited Express" he uses birds as a metaphor for our own longing to speak aloud: 'the ragged fledgling wattlebirds all soaked down to their down / well they still find time to bicker and to squawk." One of the album's most detailed narratives, 'Limited Express" puts inner feelings of loneliness and defeatism within the context of a city's physical elements. The song ultimately sees the city as a conversation that the song's protagonist longs to jump into. One of the quietest songs on 'Speak Up" describes the ways ideas grow within us, using detailed comparisons: 'quiet enough for you to hear / a child born to the unprepared". Speak Up is an effort to draw those ideas out of us. As he sings in 'Where's the Colour?", 'speak up / speak up / 'cause there could be some truth in the things you say!"   --Erasing Clouds

Given that the line-up of The Guild League contains links to The Lucksmiths and several other Antipodean indie-pop luminaries, it'd be natural to conclude that this would join them in being a slightly wistful collection with all the tenets of those connections. That natural assumption makes Speak Up a pleasingly defiant and luxurious, muscular and bracing collection. Rather than simple, quiet paeans (well, there are a couple of those…), the dominant song type is boisterous and unabashed pop thrills throughout - with necessary introspection to contextualise. The most defiant of these is Suit Fits, the opening line of which goes 'Now is the hour that I coat myself in power/tie the silk noose tight". Indeed, its premise of employment as entrapment is not new, but the buoyancy and bouncing enthusiasm with which Tali White semi-spits his vocal and the twanging answers in the arrangement do more than manning-up the words might. Indeed, Belle & Sebastian's Take Your Carriage Clock And Shove It might be a close cousin, but the subject is dealt with here ambiguity, with a view of the other side. It's no worthier than B&S' more savage mauling of the 9-5, but it certainly fiddles with its dimensions enough to maintain the interest. Elsewhere, the arrangements become sprightlier still, with the wind and brass of Where's The Colour? standing out as fine sing-along fare, and the grisly guitars of 17 Summer cementing the notion that we could quite easily be sliding out of twee focus… That necessary introspection has to surface somewhere, though, and it is nowhere more finely and evocatively displayed on the beautiful Limited Express. As seems to be the collective wont of The Guild League, the expression of minutiae in some of its more depressive and sighing guises is frequently heartbreaking and subtly mirrored by 'cello and soft Drake-esque strokes. If one song had to be picked from this bonny collection it should be this, but there are more than enough examples of the myriad directions indie-pop can take on its more fanciful voyages to sustain the listener. Speak Up is available from the ever-loving Matinée recording company.  --Pop Musicology

Vocally The Guild League sounds like the Lucksmiths for the obvious reason that Tali White sings with both bands. Mouse vs Mountain bursts out the traps with parping brass and shaking percussion, occupying a middle ground somewhere between the Housemartins and Dexys Midnight Runners. If Not Now… goes along with its title, an urgent pop tune, proving the band to be feistier than Tali's other band. There are lots of chirpy backing vocals and riotous fun. Dead Hour turns things round a bit, being pretty downbeat but somehow uplifting. After another rousing tune in Suit Fits we come to The Idea, a maudlin and beautiful little thing, bringing to mind tea on the lawn while a sinister figure spies from the bushes. Where's The Colour? has a ska feel and a reggae beat to it, which suits what is essentially an indie groove, and a kick ass white soul chorus. Brains is another song wonderfully indebted to the white soul of the early eighties, powerful brass driving the song, stabbing rhythms hitting the point home. Limited Express is a softly sung slowie, minimal backing sawing slowly away. It's a gorgeous little thing, a little like Beautiful South without the irony. To wrap things up 17 Summer is a grinding, twisting beast and Incandescent is an evangelical but blissful thing with female vocal accompaniment.   --Russell’s Reviews

I'll be the first to confess that perhaps I haven't listened enough to Inner North, so if I feel that The Guild League's recent Speak Up is their best yet it might just be because it's so much more immediate. The band is at their most rocking and Tali makes good use of the formidable set of lungs endless touring with The Lucksmiths has given him. The influence of The Housemartins on the early Lucksmiths must be familiar to everyone, but it's not until now that Tali White (who of course sings and plays the drum in the Lucksmith) has gone all the way and churned out an album that is not only full of perky POP but also lyrics that are both fun and world-toppling. Speak Up? It would be unfair to call it a political record, it's more of a cry for action. The question is: will this Guild League record make you speak up? Or perhaps "there will be no further comment. No defiant fist will lift. These quiet, capitulating eyes will lower, feet will shift. Onto the long, thoughtful orator we will give the shortest shrift." as the subdued "Dead Hour" laments. The grave subject matter threatens to make any such record a tedious affair, but Tali cleverly steeps his songs in irresistible melodies (like that of "If Not Now...", played at DDOMD last month) and artful wordings (as in "Brains" which contains my perhaps favourite line - "when I tried to explain, I found nothing in your head but brains"). He's also right to put some unexpected elements into the mix, to keep you on the edge of your seats throughout. The backbeat and horns of "Where's the Colour?" would've held up on any Still Flyin' record and "17 Summer" initially sounds eerily like an outtake from Red House Painters' Songs For a Blue Guitar, before switching into New Lucksmiths mode. Tali may have saved his best songs for The Guild League this time, or maybe this is just better than The Lucksmiths' new album First Frost. Get both from Matinée.  --Heaven Is Above Your Head

I was disappointed that the Lucksmiths broke up a while back, so I had to console myself with Speak Up, the latest from ex-Lucksmiths member Tali White's the Guild League. It may be a disservice to refer to the group in that manner, given that it's a true sextet rather than a frontman with a backing group. I'm loving this record from the start, when 'Mouse Vs Mountain" turns out not to be a hopeful underdog story, but a threatening note of something else, vengeance or revolution. The misdirection's a nice way to get some catharsis through indie-pop, but the following 'If Not Now…" is the real trumpets-out call to revolution. The group, stretching its core aesthetic without excessive deviation, acknowledges the failures and restrictions of our contemporary culture, trapped in both personal and political conformity. Rather than simply railing against the problem (with bouncy music), the group digs at it, sorting out at least one source of the problem, explaining in 'Brains": 'When I tried to explain I found nothing in your head but brains / My unsolicited advice is: live by what you love / 'Cos I'm sick and tired of people ticking 'No to all above." The Guild League isn't interested in putting a shiny coat on anything, but they concern themselves with our waking somnambulism. It's a pretty way of getting at some difficult material, and it's a stellar example of pop doing one of the things pop is supposed to do for us. In this case, it's a bunch of grown-ups taking the mature (but fun and energetic) approach to the issues that rock was supposed to have solved for each of us sometime between getting to drive and getting to order a legal cold one.   --Cave 17

I'm a big fan of Australia indie-popsters The Lucksmiths. For more than 15 years, this band has been pumping out brilliant albums, EPs, and singles of foot-tapping, clever, bright indie-pop, the kind of songs that make you want to sing along and listen to loudly while driving with the car window down on a beautiful Spring day. Led by singer/drummer Tali White, The Lucksmiths' lyrics are as clever as they are fun, like a bouncier Weakerthans or less-emo Death Cab. But for all that praise, I find myself loving Speak Up, the third album from The Guild League, which features White as the primary singer/songwriter, in a different way. The Lucksmiths have a fairly set sound; you know what you're going to get on each album, and the songs tend to blend together. The Guild League's members bring such a varied approach to Speak Up that I'm amazed this project isn't discussed among the top echelon of popular indie-popsters, alongside Death Cab and Belle & Sebastian. It's possible the varying song styles on Speak Up may not be as appealing to some as they are to me. After all, you have a serious mix of approaches here, from the classic Australian and New Zealand pop on 'If Not Now…" to the quiet and contemplative 'The Idea" to the ska-pop of 'Where's the Colour?" with its trumpet and saxophone to the acoustic guitar-led folky approach to 'Limited Express." While White's voice and his clever lyrics are always the centerpiece of Lucksmiths songs, The Guild League puts the focus on the retro-pop horns in 'Brains" and fuzzed-out electric guitars on the nod to classic London rock, '17 Summer." Favorite songs are the upbeat 'Mouse Vs. Mountain," with hand-claps and gang-sung moments; the lovely and moody 'Dead Hour"; and the almost hauntingly pretty 'Incandescent," which features some lovely guitarwork and strings as well as the gorgeous addition of female vocals. And those trademark clever lyrics White is known for are evident on the album's standout, 'Suit Fits." I get the sense that The Guild League lets White stretch his musical chops. His voice sounds surprisingly confident in the diverse styles on Speak Up, and the Australian musicians backing him are clearly gifted, letting horns, bass, or strings shine on various tracks. There is something to love on each individual track on Speak Up, with a new favorite on each listen depending on your mood. That this album hit the US in December of 2008 is surely the only reason it didn't appear on indie-pop aficionados' year-end best-of lists. It would have been on mine for sure.   --Delusions of Adequacy

Not content with lending his vocal and drum skills to last year's career high 'First Frost' from his full time band, Australian indie-pop legends the Lucksmiths, Tali White now returns with a third album from his side project, the Guild League. There is certainly nothing here to put-off fans of his more established mainline, but the Guild League are more upbeat and (dare I say it) more naturally tuneful. With recent Lucksmiths albums having adopted a downbeat approach, fans of their more sprightly work will delight in the effortless pop of songs like 'If Not Now..'. But just as was the case on the band's outstanding debut 'Private Transport', an album that has made regular returns to my stereo in the years since I first bought as a first year undergraduate, over time it is the ballads that really stand out. The combination of White's observational lyrics, excellent melodies and gorgeous arrangements make for some fantastic pop music. When White roped his friends together to help him make his debut, the range of players gave the album a welcome variety, and while some of that album's clumsy grace has been lost, the development of the Guild League into a genuine band allow these songs to be presented with increased confidence. Of particular note are the saxophone solos, which never fail to add texture and class to the proceedings. Tali White remains a cheerfully wry songwriter, and (once again) has used the Guild League to show that he is easily the equal of his Lucksmiths colleagues as a songwriter. Add this to your shopping lists.   --Pennyblack Magazine

The Guild League are fronted by Tali White who may be better known for his work with The Lucksmiths. Speak Up is the band's third album but the first I have actually heard. Oh the shame, there goes my indie pop cred… So if, like me, you are expecting to read how similar it is to The Lucksmiths you had better look away now. The ten tracks here betray a diverse array of influences ranging from ska, reggae, northern soul, eighties pop as well as a dose of your daily indie pop dietary requirement. The album doesn't let up once from the fast and frantic opener Mouse vs Mountain complete with its brass and horns, to the beautiful Incandescent (the backing vocals by Aussie folk singer Bec Rigby are to die for) which is the nearest we get the classic indie pop sound on the album. Speak Up demonstrates how varied indie pop can actually be and it is a delight to listen to. I for one will be rooting out the back catalogue sharpish. Speak Up is out now on Matinée Recordings.   --Lost Music Blog

Winter is the perfect time for hibernation, a well-deserved rest period before springtime's social graces. The October/November period also coincides with an avalanche of top quality releases, both local and/or general. Those who pine for the more jocular, angular sounds of The Lucksmiths' early material might be slightly more in tune with the new album from The Guild League. Once known as merely a side-project (which it pretty much was on the debut), 2004's Inner North saw the forming of a proper band. New album Speak Up has the feel of a team in unison, something reflected in the photographs of the sleeve. Yes, the focal point is Tali White's vocal and his wilder, less restrained delivery, but the contributions of the other musicians give this familiar sound a new twist. Joyous up-tempo numbers such as If Not Now and Suit Fits have a big super-band sound which sits alongside acts like The New Pornographers and Architecture in Helsinki. Diversity has always been a calling card of The Guild League and here the band dabble in ska, pop and folk with reckless abandon, while still making room for dreamy ballads adorned by trumpet and cello. Yes, The Lucksmiths are throwing in a few shoegaze guitar sounds, but the break-beat drums, saxophone solo and caustic lyrics of Brains would only really work on an album by The Guild League. So while some things change and other things stay the same, the new album from The Guild League is like a warm, welcoming reunion with old friends. If anything, they've improved with age.   --Beat

Very power-pop, tight newie from the best 'League since Anti-Nowhere containing a mini-constellation of sparkling tunes. You could do worse than check out summer hit-style opener "Mouse vs Mountain" for a start.   --In Love With These Times... (Albums of the Year)

I'm a big fan of Australia indie-popsters The Lucksmiths. For more than 15 years, this band has been pumping out brilliant albums, EPs, and singles of foot-tapping, clever, bright indie-pop, the kind of songs that make you want to sing along and listen to loudly while driving with the car window down on a beautiful Spring day. Led by singer/drummer Tali White, The Lucksmiths' lyrics are as clever as they are fun, like a bouncier Weakerthans or less-emo Death Cab. But for all that praise, I find myself loving Speak Up, the third album from The Guild League, which features White as the primary singer/songwriter, in a different way. The Lucksmiths have a fairly set sound; you know what you're going to get on each album, and the songs tend to blend together. The Guild League's members bring such a varied approach to Speak Up that I'm amazed this project isn't discussed among the top echelon of popular indie-popsters, alongside Death Cab and Belle & Sebastian. It's possible the varying song styles on Speak Up may not be as appealing to some as they are to me. After all, you have a serious mix of approaches here, from the classic Australian and New Zealand pop on 'If Not Now…" to the quiet and contemplative 'The Idea" to the ska-pop of 'Where's the Colour?" with its trumpet and saxophone to the acoustic guitar-led folky approach to 'Limited Express." While White's voice and his clever lyrics are always the centerpiece of Lucksmiths songs, The Guild League puts the focus on the retro-pop horns in 'Brains" and fuzzed-out electric guitars on the nod to classic London rock, '17 Summer." Favorite songs are the upbeat 'Mouse Vs. Mountain," with hand-claps and gang-sung moments; the lovely and moody 'Dead Hour"; and the almost hauntingly pretty 'Incandescent," which features some lovely guitarwork and strings as well as the gorgeous addition of female vocals. And those trademark clever lyrics White is known for are evident on the album's standout, 'Suit Fits." I get the sense that The Guild League lets White stretch his musical chops. His voice sounds surprisingly confident in the diverse styles on Speak Up, and the Australian musicians backing him are clearly gifted, letting horns, bass, or strings shine on various tracks. There is something to love on each individual track on Speak Up, with a new favorite on each listen depending on your mood. That this album hit the US in December of 2008 is surely the only reason it didn't appear on indie-pop aficionados' year-end best-of lists. It would have been on mine for sure.   --Delusions of Adequacy

Op de een of andere manier weet ik niet echt wat ik met een band als de Guild League aan moet. En dat heeft vooral met zanger Tali White te maken. Ik ben een groot fan van zijn band The Lucksmiths en dan is het vreemd om die zo herkenbare stem in een heel andere omgeving te horen. De Guild League rolt namelijk net iets meer zijn spierballen dan de Lucksmiths. Het is een beetje alsof Sam Beam van Iron & Wine gaat zingen bij Marah. Misschien werkt het wel, maar wennen is het absoluut. Daar komt nog bij dat het vorige album van de band me nogal tegenviel. Maar Speak Up is gelukkig een stuk beter, al kent ook deze plaat zijn zwakke momenten. Maar bijvoorbeeld Mouse vs Mountain, If Not Now… en Brains zijn heerlijk aanstekelijke songs met fijne riffs en blazers die zo bij Dexy's Midnight Runners weggelopen lijken te zijn. Dit zijn nummers die je met geen mogelijkheid meer uit je kop krijgt. En Tali White blijft daarbij natuurlijk een fantastische zanger. Speak Up is nu uit op Matinee, een label waarvan bijna elke release weer een feestje is.   --Ketelmuziek

The Guild League – Speak Up El viento huracanado que azota todo el país ha convertido esta casa en una especie de jaula de la que resulta difícil escapar. La luz solar hace tiempo que marchó y bajamos las persianas terminando de aislarnos del hostil exterior que se empeña en arruinar todos nuestros planes para el fin de semana. Así, lo que en principio podría ser un idílico plan hogareño, acaba convirtiéndose en una pequeña tortura por el mero hecho de ser la única opción posible. Leemos nuestros libros, las películas se suceden en el televisor, los discos suenan, pero aún así el tiempo parece no correr, o lo que es peor, corre en la nada, escapando las preciadas horas que preceden a la rutina diaria de nuestros trabajos. Toca hacer algo desesperado, ocupar nuestras horas en algo que siempre postergamos ante cualquier plan alternativo, los discos se amontonan mientras ella no para de quejarse. Lleva toda la razón, hay discos en lugares rocambolescos, en realidad hay discos por toda la casa, y lo correcto sería ir buscándoles sitio en unas estanterías que piden a gritos una ampliación. Todo volverá a estar igual en unas pocas semanas, cuando nuevas adquisiciones cubran el espacio que ahora limpio, pero por un tiempo todo ocupará su sitio. Supongo que una de las constantes de aquellos que hemos hecho de la música nuestro entretenimiento (por llamarlo de algún modo) principal es la reorganización de nuestras colecciones de discos. Éstos no paran de llegar a casa y hay que ir buscando sitio para guardarlos y, lo que es más importante, encontrarlos el día que queremos volver a escucharlos, pero todos sabemos que en cada nuevo intento de poner todo en orden hay algún vinilo o cd que queda fuera de las estanterías y da pie a volver a amontonar todo fuera de ellas. En esta ocasión uno de los discos que hemos sido incapaces de catalogar y archivar ha sido Speak Up, el último trabajo de esa especie de colectivo australiano que forman The Guild League. Hasta ahora el nombre de este sexteto que termina ampliando su número en sus grabaciones casi hasta el infinito había ido ineludiblemente unido al de The Lucksmiths, la banda principal de Tali White, su componente más conocido. Sin embargo Speak Up, su tercer Lp, muestra un esfuerzo quizás no pretendido pero sí logrado, de caminar en solitario sin que ningún tipo de complejo o comparación pueda hacerle sombra, habiendo logrando convertirse de este modo en una de nuestras adicciones favoritas de los últimos días. The Inner North, segundo y más celebrado trabajo hasta la fecha de The Guild League, se ocupaba de explorar caminos ya transitados por Tali White con su otra banda, pero los tiempos parecen haber cambiado, encontrándonos con unos nuevos The Guild League mucho más libres a la hora de componer, sin ceñirse a ningún patrón estilístico preestablecido que en el pasado los hubiera podido encorsetar, con magníficos resultados, por otra parte…..aunque aquí la cuestión no es cortar con el pasado, la banda se muestra orgullosa de él en un buen número de los diez cortes que componen Speak Up, pero mejor empezaremos un final que casi es el principio de nuestra unión con este disco; Incandescent cierra de tal modo esta nueva entrega de los australianos que nos vemos irremediablemente abocados a repetir la escucha entera del Lp para llegar a tan sublime conclusión. Incandescent y sus guiños nos seducen sin remedio, esa guitarra acariciada que nos recuerda a Forever Changes, ese ambiente folk que Tali imprime al tema, el crescendo que nos reencuentra con es maravilla que es la voz de Bec Rigby (a la que escuchábamos hace poco en First Frost, último Lp de los Lucksmiths) y con unos vientos que insertados en el momento idóneo convierten a esta despedida en nuestro momento favorito del disco. En Brains queremos ver un guiño inédito en un primer medio minuto que nos traslada a The Sugargliders, compatriotas absolutamente ninguneados, incluso dentro del catálogo del prestigioso sello Sarah Records, que albergó gran parte de su producción discográfica. Pero a partir de aquí la cosa cambia por completo, desatándose unos vientos que nos recuerdan el particular estilo del ska, estilo con el que no comulgamos, pero que aquí queda resultón, no siendo ésta la única ocasión la que el grupo intenta sacar partido de esta influencia. Where's The Colour? de manera descarada, y Mouse vs Mountain más discretamente, suponen un pequeño acercamiento o préstamo del estilo. La segunda sin duda es una mezcla perfecta con los más optimistas Lucksmiths, que como comentábamos anteriormente no han sido borrados del recuerdo, quedando patente su influencia en cortes como la brillante If Not Now… o las tiernas Dead Hours y The Idea, que representan otros momentos álgidos de la grabación. Suit Fits y 17 Summer cambian de registro por completo, en especial la última, que nos trae el lado más rockero del sonido de The Guild League, rematando el combinado que Speak Up ofrece al que quiera ver al sexteto como algo más la segunda banda de Tali White. Es probable que Speak Up pierda en la distancia corta respecto a The Inner North, aquellos que esperen encontrar aquí la absoluta inmediatez de aquel pueden caer en el error de considerar este nuevo disco de The Guild League como un trabajo inferior o poco centrado, por el contrario esta colección de diez canciones nos enseñan cómo el grupo se resiste a aferrarse a lo que se espera de ellos, y actuando con la absoluta libertad de aquellos de los que nada se espera, por inconstancia o humildad, firman un trabajo que abre nuevas puertas para al futuro sin dejar de atender a aquellos que se encariñaron con el grupo años atrás.   --360º de Separación

L'australien Tali White reste en piste, toujours aussi prolifique et créateur. Tel un chevalier sur son dada blanc, armure faite de poésie, un carnet à spirale en guise de lance et son dernier étendard sorti le 2 décembre 2008, Speak Up. A la tête des deux groupes, Lucksmiths et Guild League, Tali est sûrement un des meilleurs auteurs-compositeurs et interprètes de pop. Le groupe de Melbourne The Guild League sort en 2002 Private Transport, album annonçant Inner North de 2004 avec une formation plus réduite qu'au début : Cressida Griffith au violoncelle et Rodrigo Pintos-Lopez à la guitare. Mélodiques, délicats, les arrangements et instrumentations nous emmènent dans de la délicieuse Chamber-pop avec le dernier né Speak up . Pinto-Lopez n'est plus dans Guild League, aujourd'hui constitué de Cressida Griffith, à la basse et violoncelle, Gus Rigby au saxophone, Roger Clark à la trompette, le batteur Phil Collings et Gerry Zeeman la guitare. Quant à Tali White, il écrit, compose, chante ( avec cette puissance vocale et ces intonations si touchantes), il joue de plusieurs instruments en studio, de la grosse caisse sur scène tout en chantant. L'artiste est parfait! Je suis certaine qu'il sait aussi faire des choux à la crème home-made ! Speak up est fabuleux, variant et alternant entre balades émouvantes et poétiques, Limited Express, The Idea et des embardées plus rock, aux refrains rebondissants et aux tambourins chaloupés dans Where's the colour? Signés fidèlement chez Matinée Records pour les USA et Candles Records, en Australie, ces musiciens collaborent également avec d'autres « bands » comme les Steinbecks pour qui Tali a écrit deux titres The Doppler effet et Have you ever looked after a song? Tout comme avec les Lucksmiths, les Guild League jouent énormément de live, accompagnés d'autres groupes et artistes, Bank Holidays, Fred Astereo, tous du label Matinée, de Candles et de Lost and Lonesome.   --Kingem