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Don't be fooled by the name or the gradually heating
cauldron of hype bubbling around them. Or the fact that they're chums of
Interpol and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The plume that surrounds
Montreal quartet The Stills has been billowed out by them and them
alone.
As grandiose in its title as it is in the content, an
antidote to the Doves and Turin Brakes has at last been found. Although a couple of tracks in and one could be forgiven for mistaking The Stills as merely the former, frontman Tim Fletcher's
angsty croon-cum-mumble gradually steadies The Stills, as they sail through a majestic
neon metropolis of tracks.
Indeed not many bands of late have managed to shuffle
into a New York studio and knock out a sound which is both epic and raw,
intricately crafted yet gob-smackingly unpredictable.
Upcoming single Lola
Stars & Stripes opens things warmly with its foot-tapping anthem-y and
by the end you'll be humming and singing along. Just a pause is given
for the outro as the immaculate Gender Bombs is even better. Heck, they
should have released this one - though perhaps the chorus line, "The girl
will screw you," is a tad too awkward for a stadium rocking hit single.
Alison Krausse is another single candidate, this one a
rollicking Strokes-y number, which sees Fletcher loosen up and cushion
the catchy hook along with a very Byrds sounding hum.
A nod towards the '80s is applied with the synth on the
upbeat and appropriately titled Ready For It. Here the boys roll into a
fantastic trip into indie-Americana, with jangly Kings Of Leon hooks
and squalling solos before oozing into a slow instrumental delight. It's
ambitious and sheer genius to warp from one sound to another so effortlessly
and so discreetly.
But it doesn't stop there. Animals + Insects is
bordering on "experimental" with tight and triangulated percussion, bubbling
drum loops, humming bass and shimmering strings. More Kid A than anything
else, but again unexpected and to good effect.
Okay, okay, I'll roll up my tongue and clean up the
saliva. Logic... isn't, for all its genius, groundbreaking. Of Montreal is
aimless crooning and over-indulgence. Love songs and the all together broody
'80s feel aren't the sparks to set your heart racing or head nodding. You're
probably more likely to stick this on as a filler while doing chores or to
cheer you up on a journey. Then again that's just an assumption. When a band
comes along and harnesses the sound of Echo & The Bunnymen, The
Cure and Mansun, and rotates it like a magician does his cards,
then you know its something special.
Not bad for a debut record. Not bad at all...
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