Only seven months late. I ordered this on CD, some stuff went wrong, the distro kept forgetting to order it in for me. I asked for my money back, they said it’d be in soon. Then finally, after I told them I actually had a proper record player, I got sent the vinyl copy. And was it worth the wait? I guess.
Mineral (or, Miserable as they would better be known) as everyone knows are now dead, and reborn in the bodies of the likes of the equally soul-scraping Gloria Record and the fantastical Pop Unknown. And while I am still wittering on about nothing in particular… every self-respecting emo-er uses no capital letters when we want to be pretencious and silly, and Mineral seem to be advocating the further step of not using any spaces if the tracklisting is anything to go by. Thats just plain daft.
Right, the music. Well, what can you say. Mineral make music that is enjoyed best at low lighting, on your own, in a room with no sharp objects. Or guns. Chris has one of the most easily identifiable and sorrowful voices of the genre. This side of Jeremy Engik. And when the album starts off with the desperate, strumming sound of “LoveLetterTypewriter” you better find something else to concentrate on or you’ll be an emotional shipwreck by the time this album is over. One day, more British bands will learn how to play slow, ‘indie’ guitar in the way that US bands like Mineral do. One day.
At times, Mineral spring into action and their songs start rocking out, such as on “Palisade” and single “&Serenading”. But they still make you want to go hide and feel sorry for yourself. And according to a band I was listening to earlier (Panthro UK United 13) self pity is a very bad thing indeed. Ah.
Mineral stay unhappy for the entire duration of the album. I will have to play this to my housemate Dan sometime, so he can have a field day with his jokes about “crying music”. Heh. Maybe I will make a retort about his CD by that abysmal French band, Air. Ha ha! How can anyone comment on other peoples records when they own a CD by Air? ;o)
5r4
Oops! I just typed that when lying on my bed, I brought down my foot on the keyboard by mistake and that is what came out. I would delete it, but I want to be pretentious.
So, yeah, what ever anyone says, Mineral are / were emo indie rock greats, and this is essential for any devotee of this sorta music. But they’ve all got it already, so I’ll be going now.