Labels: Barely Regal – Kingfisher Bluez – sncl
Review by: MH
Drowsy, slow stuff here with Duster and all your favourite 90s slowcore bands vibes – 55 Deltic aren’t really in a rush and things are deliberated and meandering. The whole thing is train and railway-themed – right from the band name, through to the track titles and there’s even a British Rail blue vinyl edition. There’s a fairly gentle opening to this record too. It kicks off with the short sway of the title track, reminding me of The Blue Period, and continues in similar vein with “Glendale Girls” which borders on shoegaze – there’s something about the vocal harmonies on this one that makes me think of Slowdive. Throughout the album you can make out distant sounds and a whole range of different instruments – distant voices on “Glendale Girls”, a bicycle bell surfaces at one point and a vibraphone appears here and there. The cello, viola and violin all get a run-out too and add layers of beauty to songs like “Tangent” and “Fulbright” while there is also input from folk in other bands like Radiant Heart and Floor Cry. It’s kind of haunting at times – in its sound but also within the lyrics (“Your sister is never coming back now” on “Samantha” for starters). The album gets a little looser and noisier as it goes on, and things get wearier and more dejected towards the end. By the time the ending of “Eden Valley Line” arrives the desperation in the vocals is palpable (“I find there’s nothing left to hurt. There’s nothing left to hurt”). Something very Codeine about this one and its bleakness. The closing track is another highlight but it’s more haunting and hypnotic with the closing line of “I dreamt I was swimming with my face in her hair” repeated over and over as it drifts away. Plenty to get excited about here – slowly, mind.