pilot to gunner - games at high speeds
a rerelease as this was originally put out on gern blandsten records. never heard of the label ? well exactly. obviously though someone at arena rock recording co. thought that this was just too damn fine to let slip into complete obscurity and decided to give these songs an extra chance of survial.
i wholeheartedly agree.
taking the alt rock template from fugazi, strapping xtc's andy partridge vocals over the top and digging out the raw funked up grooves from gang of four with a minimal amount of studio trickery, no protools messing here, just abrupt instrumentation and spiky rhythms.
the songs are not immediate - they require a bit of tlc on behalf of the listener. but if this is provided then the rewards are plentiful and exponentially increase with each listen. there are simply too many highlights over the course of the album as all the songs are tighter then a ducks proverbial and it's obvious the band are cocksure of their talents - no timidness being displayed here. so there is no need to go into individual song details as there is not much in the way of sonic variety. the band has its stall set out from the start, and they are going to see where it leads them ... hopefully, all the bloody way ..