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Film School first made an impact in the UK with a
series of live performances in London in 2004. Signed
to Beggars late last year, they are now in prime
position to begin an assault on the UK market. And if
you'd like to judge a book by its cover, then on this
occasion feel free - the album's artwork of strikingly
coloured poppy blooms on a dark background is a
perfect visual representation of the band's music.
First impressions of the San Francisco quintet are
extremely good, of a confident outfit who know exactly
what they're doing but aren't going to let themselves
get backed into a stylistic corner. An edgy beat
begins proceedings, but opens up to reveal a spacious,
cinematic texture and a killer vocal hook that sets
tracks for the centre of your brain.
It's all very promising, and a highly impressive
and ambitious first few minutes, yet unlike many a
debut that pitches its best material at the start this
record just goes on getting better and better. With On
& On cast as a bold, epic second track with a driving
percussion underbelly we begin to see something of a
blueprint in the sweeping melancholy of these big
compositions. Krayg Burton's slightly nasal
vocals hold a hint of the early 90s in their
inflections, but are perfectly cast against the cloudy
backdrop, wonderful whooshes of sound giving the home
stereo or headphones a real treat. Even the half-way
instrumental Garrison succeeds in its big chord
progression, stately yet curiously moving.
Stylistic comparisons reveal the slightest of
brushes with The Cure, Secret Machines
and even British Sea Power, but Film School
have plenty of their own originality on show, and only
the Secret Machines would consider something like the
wonderfully ghosted drum intro to Like You Know. At a
point where the album should by rights be petering out
and getting tired on its feet, and is in fact
threatening to self-combust, this wonderful moment
sets everything back on track for the home
straight.
Production, as you'll have gathered, is big, but
not pretentious, meaning songs like On & On and Harmed
carry all before them, as does He's A Deep, Deep Lake,
with its falsetto vocals. This title hints at a theme
of fantasy within the quintet, and the music takes any
direction it chooses. And yet these are well
structured, big-boned songs, strongly melodic and
irresistibly moody.
After a few listens this record will have made a
claim for exclusive rights to your ears. It's an
extremely auspicious record with which to kick off
their worldwide career, and marks them out to be a
band of strength, quality, and originality. It's very
early to say this, but already Film School is looking
like one of this year's best albums.
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