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Seagull Strange is the new project from former
King Louis (no, me neither) frontman Dan
Telling, and a neat little project it is too, full of
catchy pop hooks, ethereal vocals, angular guitars and
a mix of genres from 80s electronica to 70s prog folk
to 90s art rock, with snippets of everyone from
Fleetwood Mac to T-Rex to The
Auteurs thrown in for good measure.
Take track two, Girl With 7 Fingers, for example.
Not only does it have a top name, it starts with a
furious guitar solo which tails off into something all
together more melodic and tuneful, to be followed up
by Missing The Point's angular art rock, somewhere
between OMD and Art Brut with a breathy
vocal that adds a sense of mystery and depth to its
chords.
Love's Sick Disease is another killer title, this
time with a piano intro worthy of an independent movie
soundtrack to tickle our ears and convince us that
Seagull Strange have a got a bit more to offer than
the average indie white boys with guitars plus girl
with a violin.
It's not all muso worthiness though:
singalonga La La La Leu, enjoy Bitten To The Quick's
fun whistley bits and on Jack Is Back they tread
perilously close to poodle-perm air guitar self
indulgence, although this is also where they get
closest to sounding like The Auteurs - two
descriptions which shouldn't work together but somehow
do.
After an Indian-influenced sitar-style intro, Love
and Death (notice a lyrical theme developing here?)
switches genres again, this time to more 70s medieval
madrigal influenced folk, beautifully haunting and
reminiscent of Procul Harem and other soft-focus
tail-end of the '60s summery drifters.
The result is a mixed bag that holds together well
and works as a good showcase to the six-piece band,
who add classical trappings of violins and pianos to
the standard guitar and drums line-up. It's one of
those albums that instantly sounds familiar, so that
by the third or fourth listen you already recognise
the main hooks.
There's no standout singles, however,
and that probably is a weakness - it's great
background music and a good album to listen to while
you do the ironing, but to get themselves noticed they
may need something more instantly foot-tapping to grab
the attention of the fickle public.
Still, guitarist Millins has a 'luxuriant handlebar
moustache' apparently, which their growing fanbase
likes to imitate, so that might do the trick in the
meantime and if it doesn't, the model seagulls on
sticks the crowd will be waving at their forthcoming
gigs will make a good photo opportunity.
This is their
first full-length release, following on from a
download-only EP, Think Happy Thoughts in 2004 and a
physical one, Animals, in 2005. In other words,
they've had plenty of time to think about what they're
doing and where they want to be. The result is
accomplished, listenable and just the right side of
average. It'll sound even better come the summer.
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