Crayola Lecturn:
The Fall and Rise Of:
Bleeding Heart Recordings:
Out 15th April:
7/10
Like some bonged-out Ray Davies holed-up in a back-room with
Brian Wilson and Martin Newall, Crayola Lecturn delivers a frazzled and
eclectic broadsheet of psychedelia and Brit-pop. There’s also an element of
Cardiacs and Syd Barrett about this ‘five year labour of love’ from a wacky
outfit headed up by, erm, Crayola himself. Previously responsible for tracks
issued with the groups Map and Departure Lounge, Lectern’s barmy synthesis of
eccentric tales about dead pet fish (Goldfish
Song) and the sub-Pythonesque rock miasma I Forgot My Big Idea, makes more sense than anything in the charts
today.
Obviously tailored towards people of a sound and broad mind, The Fall
and Rise Of has considerable tenacity for a debut-album – crikey moses, there’s
super faux-trumpet solos, theatrical fuckery on pianos, there’s even sad-face gloom-step in the form of Slow Down, immortalized by the
hilarious lyric “you’re running around like you’ve got a rocket up your arse”, plus there’s the outrageously-monikered (and straight from Blackadder) Combobulatory Explorations with its
sinister piano-powered motif and there’s enough weird ear-candy to satisfy the
most picky kid on the Wonka Chocolate Factory tour before and after he's necked the burping cola.