Labels: Pigdog
Review by: Joe Caithness
Ok, well I was meant to review this aeons ago but didn’t because I’m a slacker, but I think maybe now after a few listens over time I can probably give it a bit fairer review.
First off I am going to talk about the artwork, ok it’s nothing special but it is quite good so I thought I would point it out, blue background, circuit diagrams, black and white photos… very nice… it also has a proper bootlet which is usually only seen on discography cds I find these days, the bootlet itself comes with a lovely mini lyric sheet in true “our album should be pressed on 12 inch not cd…” tradition.
This band are from Derby in the UK, and if you live here and have not seen their live show, have you been living under a rock? you should definitely go see them everytime they play close, they put on a great show…
Right so the CD… first track has a cool catchy melody over harsh screamo stuff, but from the word go you realise there is something much more honest about it than normal. The Little Explorer are a hard to describe band, but in a good way. By the time the first notes of the second track, the amazingly catchy “From Five” come in, you know your in for an aural treat here as opposed to a pleasant ear bashing (see perfect singalong moments: “just ask the question!”). The album almost drifts into cheesyness with track three’s synthesised piano outro and the delay effects on “blood runs blue”, but the perfectly intertwined guitaring between the two guitarist/singers makes the unnoticable after 3 or 4 listens. The vocals, even though the singing is not what you usally hear in this style, do work with the songs, even if they are a bit high in the mix…
To sum up the order of this album it kind of goes in leaps and bounds, all the harsher bits seem to be coupled together, which does lose a bit of the flow and sometimes this can be much appreciated (see the fast octave riff in “play softer”).
This is a good album, and I don’t just mean as a collection of songs, but as a concept also, and the fact this was their first release makes this even more something to own of the current UK scene, their live show is amazing, you should all check that out and pick this up while you are there.