Duncan Gray and Ian Weatherall hoisted their Slough roots up front way before The Office and have taken seven years to come up with their debut album. The promise of the previous EPs – most recently, last years The Real People EP – has been more than realised as they pursue their uniquely individual take on electro – which means, trying to bend, stretch and mutate into new, often startling, forms rather than go the well-worn clash route. The 11 tracks feature vocals that can either be reflective (Toxic Friend) or forceful – the spot-on observations of Real People In The House, whose message goes out over vicious gutbucket jacking. The words on tracks like All These Things On My Mind stand on their own as wry, cutting confessions. Meanwhile, backdrops skitter, pulse and pack a metallic punch – as on the claustrophobic Trying To Creep In. Moments of beauty too, though, such as the cinematically-gorgeous The Printers Devil. There are no allusions of glamour and mightiness here as the album works on its (sometimes brutal) honesty and reckless creativity (Must run in the family…). The albums even named after the Mars factory behind the studio! Worth the wait.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Kris Needs
