Labels: Fully Intercoastal
Review by: Andy Malcolm
A very few times when listening to a record I hear a band do something that is so precisely what I want to hear. There’s a song on here, “This is a Transfer Point”, with such a perfect first minute, and it actually is precisely what I want to hear. It starts with just one plaintive guitar, before ushering in a little cymbal, and another gentle guitar, and then the song just evolves and grows from these humble beginnings. In an age of hyper complicated and studied music, I am still vastly more excited when a band concocts something like this, simple yet unfeasibly smart. Writing a great song and structuring things so perfectly is a hard task, and I am not even sure I can begin to explain why I am smitten by this sort of thing. But C’est Dommage, on this single song, deliver every single thing I ever want from a band. It’s quite astonishing really. And that’s a microcosm of a rather outstanding LP. A record that is full of great moments, fine songs and everything is the for the best, in this best of all possible worlds. And it’s kind of sneaky, because it gets off to a rather upbeat and bouncy start on “Wood Pigeons”, a song which harks back to the bands days as Pine Away, where they kind of sounded like the Promise Ring. The album rarely ventures in this direction once it’s done and dusted, almost like they wanted this perky number out of the way so they could get on with being more contemplative. Some of the other songs are quite lively, but never as straight ahead apart from the goofy 53 seconds of “Oh Shit Man, I’m Totally Fucking Sorry”. And then there are the moments where C’est Dommage so fully deliver, that is difficult to quite know what to say. I’ve already mentioned the magical “This is a Transfer Point” but I am going to mention it again, as it’s just a wonder. They almost match it when the record comes to an immense close on “Slanted Doors”, full of Kolya-esque swaying and groove, dropping out in the middle before crashing back into ever more yelled and eventually sobbed vocals as the guitars swirl so gorgeously. End of the world special.
And that’s it.
Best record of 2014.