|
It really did take a while to get into this one.
Having been hooked on these guys from hearing double A-side Go Back To Bed America / One Day My Son, slipping their debut album into the stereo was like
being given the keys to a Ferrari with Monica Bellucci waiting in the
passenger seat, stroking the gear stick, staring back at you and pouting
those wholesome lips...
Well maybe not, but the excitement and cauldron of
expectancy brewed warmly. I was bowled over almost immediately because intro A Poor
Man's Opera (oh the irony!) sounds like it must have been lost from the mixing desk of
UNKLE's Never Neverland for it to end up on this record - a record by the band who I thought were ready to steal Coldplay's infinite thunder.
But no, it's no error. Singer James Chant is
actually a DJ Shadow fan and wanted some of the �ber
scratch-meister's trippy funked soundscapes on record. *Cringe*. I was biting my nails
in pre-emptive distaste. Surely this would not work on a guitar band's
work?
In all honesty that was a hasty prejudice. The
Shadow-isms, if you will, swoosh about rarely. Moreover, Small Victories are
in that mould that's "kinda guitars, kinda effects, piano and strings." So
what does this mean?
Holding On Hopefully feels like an experimental album
because of it's sheer randomness. It goes from the iffy UNKLE intro into a broody piano
and effect-soaked piece (Come What May), which starts things off properly,
before the title track's sludge of post-indie - think Mansun
with hovering synth.
But lacerating these guys with that phrase "experimental" is far too easy and unfair - that's what Blur are here for. Instead the music is forward thinking and well produced, as Kids' Chorus
reveals midway through the album, with its barebone drumming, lullaby melody
and Chant's resonating hum.
Voiceover creeps back in along with some Johnny
Greenwood-style guitar squelching. It all sounds grandiose and yes, at times has an epic tint to it, but just seems to fall short.
Some of the strongest moments are the Jeff Buckley
ones, with Chant morphing into the late singer on those beautiful high
notes. The first s�ance is on Thawed, with trickles of samples, dramatic
strings and those valley glazing vocals.
Battle Waltz, essentially the dance bolted on with
some rugged plucky guitar work, is that moment where everything falls into
place, where Chant's soul wisp reaches those high notes and the grand
strings and guitars piece snuggly together.
The Buckley sound returns to haunt on tender piano
ballad Marzipan Fortune before the lighter burner, Go Back To Bed America, turns
the album on its head with its fiery anthem.
A real treat lies dormant
in the minutes after the album proper fades: the hidden track is indeed a soul
merchant's busking gem, with Chant at his most honest and raw.
Small Victories don't have the crossover appeal that will turn
them into the Madison Square Garden Coldplays of this world. But for those
willing to bother and appreciate it, they've made a terrific
debut album.
Comments
|
 |
| 
SINGLE:
more