No lustre. Little enjoyment.
The new minerals are here! Never mind those old fashioned iron and coal, these are from Poland! Everybody say "oooh!"...no?..moving on then. Not sure these will be household names, they're soft, somnolent and, what's that word?.. Oh yes, “boring”.
From the beginning, this shows it's deficiencies, ‘01010110’ slowly approaching, based on a chanting pattern, with a bass joining in and keening guitars, building until it props itself up on an elbow, then collapsing with the effort. ‘Discount’ should have one, as it’s like this too, so fey it’s scared of its own noise, bringing in slightly New Order guitars but with a basic beat and that central bass snaking around high pitched vocals and then walking in a circle, content to take us nowhere. At least ‘Mistake’ tries a hip hop backing, which is as welcomingly odd as it sounds, tightening the sound as mournful Countryish guitars suddenly chop that noise up, add syncopation and a bit of funky power. It has contained thrust (and we all want that!) and a nice fizzing solo. Good attempt.
But there's also the title track closer which resembles none other than Indie darlings Bloc Party, clapping to try to keep us from nodding off, working it until a groove of sorts ensues around a simple piano line and rattling beat. When it's finished though, you may look up and think "did it take me anywhere?"
These are the new minerals. No lustre. Little enjoyment. Can I start the bidding? Hang on, where are you going?
Steve Swift