LATE OF THE PIERFantasy Black Channel
I know, I know. You’ve had your fill of English indie/dance bands. Admittedly, there has been an influx of them desperately trying to ride on Klaxons’ coattails over the past couple of years, and many of them have been pretty poor (Hadouken! anybody?), but your faith is about to be restored by four guys from Nottinghamshire.
Helped in no small part by (seemingly omnipresent) dance producer Erol Alkan sprinkling his magic over it, Late Of The Pier’s debut album is equally slick and ramshackle, yet always exciting. Along with its chunky synths and catchy riffs, standout track Space and The Woods gives a big wink to Gary Numan, while space-opera Focker sounds like Klaxons having a fight with Muse on the Death Star. Elsewhere, things go even crazier, with the woozy guitar of Broken making way for a techno madness outro. Similarly, Random Firl feels like it could fall apart at any moment until the vocal reigns it back in.
The only time things take a downturn is with The Enemy Of The Future, which, despite a fun karaoke Bowie vocal, slows the pace and feels slightly lumbering in contrast to the rest of the songs. However, things instantly pick up with the last two tracks, especially the sweary, Sparks-esque insanity of album-closer Bathroom Gurgle.
It is testament to Fantasy Black Channel’s production, construction and inventiveness that, while it is fast, loud and often completely barmy, it’s never inaccessible or self-indulgent. What we have here is a perfectly-judged, well-executed, fearless and, most importantly, utterly thrilling record.
