Reviews

May 2007

STARLING ELECTRIC - Clouded Staircase (White Lodge Recording)

Breathtakingly refreshing and vibrant mid-60s-influenced paisley pop and psychedelia of the highest pedigree. Starling Electric a four-piece act who dress in the costumed suits of the era, complete with haircut, border on the dandy and seem to represent the baroque period of the psychedelic genre.

They are heavily influenced by The Beatles, Guided By Voices, The Beach Boys, the early Who, The Zombies and the more melodic and mainstream 60s bands. There are also instrumental parts that echo the progressive rock music of Yes, Genesis and the 70s advert-novelty band Honeybus.

The lead singer Caleb Dillon has a subtle whispering texture to his soft vocals and at times can sound like Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues. Their music is simplistic, highly-melodic and haunting where on the surface it appears euphoric and full of sunshine but the beautifully poetic lyrics reveal a hint of introverted, melancholic uncertainty and doubt.

Clouded Sunshine is a beautifully packaged collection of psychedelic gems, drenched in organs, saturated with vocal harmonies that could parallel the contemporary Say Jansfield and definitely The Beach Boys. This is an essential addition to your collection of third wave renaissance psychedelia. Very much recommended.

Ollie

Website: http://www.starlingelectric.com

BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB - Baby 81 (Island)

Over the troubled last couple of years, near splits, swapped record companies etc… 4 albums in and BRMC have a lot riding on this one. This is where they get their chance to show all the upcoming new competition in town who’s boss.  They have two choices here. Do they sit there, wimp out and fall apart or do they come full on chomping at the bit and guitars ablaze, ready for action?  So what do they do?  Read on and all will be revealed…

Last album Howl an album of mainly acoustic Americana, had some choice tracks, but it wasn’t BRMC as we know them… there was something missing…. Nick Jago?  Possibly….. but whatever it was there was definitely something missing… they sounded world weary and ready to pack it all in… man they had the fucking Blueessss.  Now when you buy a BRMC album, what you really want is dirty, scuzzed up, out-there riffs and screaming guitars and here I’m glad to say we have a welcome return to form from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.  Here they move into a league of their own.

Baby 81 is their most diverse, yet most accessible  album yet.  This is the one that’s going to catapult them into the Premiership.  Here we have BRMC of old (Weapon of Choice, 666 Conducer, American X), Howl era BRMC (I Took Out A Loan) and some which feature all elements of everything they’ve done before in album closer ‘Am I Only’ and hands down album highlight ‘All You Need is Talk.’  This is music to climb curtains to, to drive through red lights to, party to, to get deep down and …yeah…whatever…. The best BRMC album so far?  Definitely – play it LOUD!!!

SUNRAY - Tomorrow (Strawberry Recording)

Impressive second album from the Buckhinghamshire psychedelectricians. Sunray are a four-piece psychedelic drone and ethereal stargaze outfit who deservedly have Sonic Boom guesting on vocals for their Velvet Underground cover 'Ocean'.

Their music is a wide-ranging mix of the more indie psychedelic pop that dominated the early 90s such as Spacemen 3, Inspiral Carpets and Jesus and Mary Chain which is inevitable as the band were formed during this period and existed in the underground scene of Freakbeat/Delerium periodon Steve Line's (who did the cover for the first edition of the legendary Astro Zombie magazine) Acid Tapes which featured the likes of Kava Kava and Reefus Moons. Since then they have pressed vinyl on the legendary Earworm Records abd now have produced this fantastic release.

The music is traditional drone featuring backwards guitar and tamboura and ethereal as if one has been dispersed into a floatation tank filled with lysergic acid. It shimmers around the soul and brings you up slowly but surely. Once you're up, it's a pure gliding experience for at least an hour. The tracks commonly start linear with layers building up to create reinforced walls of blissed-out dreamstate psychedelia.

Ollie

Website: