Labels: Laser Ghost
Review by: Andy Malcolm
I wish when we got sent a 7″ for review, it would actually be on vinyl and not cd, sadly that’s not always the case. Anyways, Presents for Sally play the kind of thing that can soundtrack the process of getting drunk home alone, or recovering from the hangover the next morning. Your call. This is laboured (not in a bad way), fuzzy headed shoegaze. You’re probably able to ‘picture’ (um, clearly not the word) the sound in your head without difficulty. Presents for Sally dish out some classic, bliss drenched drones here and mumble the vocals airily in the background. The ‘b-side’ (on a CD?) ups the pop ante. Popping and whirring with added electronica, a la Manitoba, it deftly changes direction from the other track without diverging completely from the basic sound.
Although I am generally more likely to sling on LPs than singles, this kind of sound works well as a single. I can get a little bored of incessant shoegazing after 15 minutes, but Presents for Sally really capture the essence of the sound on these two tracks, realising that merely relying on honkingly loud and blurred sonics is not really going to turn anyone on when they have a wealth of fine LPs from the 90s to dally with. Rather, they conjure up some music that has emotional depth as much as it has instrumental wizardry. Whilst I somehow feel I should arch an eyebrow at shoegaze revivalists, these guys have something going on and I am mightily impressed by this. Good uns!