Labels: Grandpa
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Now this, this is nice. I’ve haplessly lost all that promo bumf that comes with CD’s every now and again, so I can’t tell you much about them, except they are from England and come from Cambridge. I think. And musically it’s some rather nice, cosy, indie, erm, dark-pop (or something). Which goes slow. And spacey. And swirly. “Inclined to Fall” kicks things off with some sad ole piano and some pretty wimpy indie vocals, but it fits very nicely. I’m thinking that if the vocals were more whispery and less prominent in the mix, I could be making some vague comparisons to the mighty Kepler. Meanwhile, in the background, spacey guitars swoop and swirl around, eventually powering their way towards the front, giving it more of a Blue Ontario type feel. Warm, but sort of sad at the same time. Very British. Heh.
Following that is title track, “Great Disappointment of the Year”, which is a little more subdued. Bass rolls a long subtly, and the music is very lethargic, and simple. Takes 4 minutes for anything remotely noisy to happen, when they just suddenly up the volume and sway a litte more. 3rd-ly we have “You Buried Your Face” which has a lovely moody intro, before the chunky bass sound joins the fray, a long with what sounds like programmed drum beats? Could be wrong! Anyway, this has a touch of Sigur Ros feel here. A far poppier and less icy Sigur Ros, mind you. It all builds up nicely to a more rocking finale.
Alas, “The Boy Who Held His Breath Too Long” (cool title) just doesn’t fit with the rest of the music on here at all. I was quite surprised the first time I heard it. The overly upbeat introduction just caught me off guard, this is much more typical Britpop indie. It’s far catchier, and would be the track that Steve Lamacq would play if he was sent this CD. I dunno, it’s almost like the Lightning Seeds. Do you see? The backing vocals and the guitar solo are also silly. Sorry.
Yes, this is definitely nice (though I wasn’t into track 4). It’s wintery, so just catches the final snowflurries to fit the mood. Hurrah!