Firestations:
Never Closer:
Waltz Time Records:
CD/LP/DD:
Out Nov 24th
★★★★★★★★☆☆
It's November - time for a completely unexpected masterpiece to slither out from under the music-industry carpet just as the year is coming to a close and those year-end lists start to get published. The Flipside Reviews list for 2014 isn't going to be missing out this superb effort from London psychedelic dream-pop quintet Firestations, that's for bloody certain. It's a prince.
Members of Dark Captains and Astronauts decorate the line-up, producing insistent melodic and exquisitely honed harmonics that seem more suited to drinking builders tea than chugging acid. Quintessentially English some might call it, in the vein of Temples without the fuzz, British Sea Power without the big drums, the Inspirals without the gloom and Frazier Chorus minus the twee, all primed with some easily remembered tunes to boot.
Key songs include the forthcoming single Forgetful Man, the oddball Masomenos (Spanish meaning 'roughly speaking') and the druggy Lonely Town pitching in at just under six minutes. But these are merely the tip of the iceberg and the opening chapters - Never Closer rolls up its sleeves from track five onwards when Cold Sweaty Palms chimes out of the speakers with an air of menace and a motorik beat that recalls Can or David Holmes' I Heard Wonders. Fine effort.
The latter half of the album is perhaps even more accomplished than the first - this new, more robust, version of No Reply would make a fine single again (it was previously issued in minimal form on an EP last year), while the last three tracks are the best of the lot. Tightrope is a joyous burst of wide-eyed rainbow-hued optimism, Long Night is a mellower incarnation of what's gone before, easing you into the huge epic curtain-call that is Alma. At almost eight minutes in length, the final song on the album is by turns expansive, spatial, compelling and a great way to round things off.
My only real gripe lies with the rather low-key artwork - for such a strong clutch of songs, music like this deserves a BIG front cover. Just saying (apologies to the artist!). Great set of songs though, many of which could see the band right for 2015. Recommended.
Never Closer:
Waltz Time Records:
CD/LP/DD:
Out Nov 24th
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Members of Dark Captains and Astronauts decorate the line-up, producing insistent melodic and exquisitely honed harmonics that seem more suited to drinking builders tea than chugging acid. Quintessentially English some might call it, in the vein of Temples without the fuzz, British Sea Power without the big drums, the Inspirals without the gloom and Frazier Chorus minus the twee, all primed with some easily remembered tunes to boot.
Key songs include the forthcoming single Forgetful Man, the oddball Masomenos (Spanish meaning 'roughly speaking') and the druggy Lonely Town pitching in at just under six minutes. But these are merely the tip of the iceberg and the opening chapters - Never Closer rolls up its sleeves from track five onwards when Cold Sweaty Palms chimes out of the speakers with an air of menace and a motorik beat that recalls Can or David Holmes' I Heard Wonders. Fine effort.
The latter half of the album is perhaps even more accomplished than the first - this new, more robust, version of No Reply would make a fine single again (it was previously issued in minimal form on an EP last year), while the last three tracks are the best of the lot. Tightrope is a joyous burst of wide-eyed rainbow-hued optimism, Long Night is a mellower incarnation of what's gone before, easing you into the huge epic curtain-call that is Alma. At almost eight minutes in length, the final song on the album is by turns expansive, spatial, compelling and a great way to round things off.
My only real gripe lies with the rather low-key artwork - for such a strong clutch of songs, music like this deserves a BIG front cover. Just saying (apologies to the artist!). Great set of songs though, many of which could see the band right for 2015. Recommended.