reviews november 2003

Brody & Quint, 20 Feet Beneath The Sea CDR
Brody and Quint sounds like a poorly-conceived detective duo that never made it past the pilot. Brody and Quint sound like an immaculately-conceived acoustic duo that never make it past the rehearsal room. Guitar and twin vocals moulded perfectly around space. His vocal: a touch of Tom Yorke. Her vocal: a touch of class. www.brodyandquint.com mark@shovepenny.com

My Autumn Empire CDR
The members of Epic45 by another name, with vocals and a cover of Brassneck. (Younger readers will note that Brassneck is a wonderfully pummelled pop song, snarled through by gnarled-through David Gedge at the peak of his powers and recorded by Steve Albini.) The press release mentions that Epic45 grew from a shared love of The Cure, Depeche Mode and The Wedding Present. You can't here much DM in here, but The Cure are under the surface of opening track, Lights, and the Weddoes cover is reverent. It disassembles the original, soothes it, polishes every note and eases it back together as a Zen version of itself. myautumnempire@yahoo.co.uk

I Had An Inkling CDR
Organ used to call stuff like this pronk. As a name it works on every level. It doesn't mean anything, but it's instantly understandable (I like wonky prog better than proggy wonk.) It's almost onomatopoeic in the way that it's recognisably a word with an obvious pronunciation but it doesn't look or sound quite like a word. It looks awkward and it sounds awkward. It is awkward. Enter I Had An Inkling. Why play one song when ten will do? Why stop at ten? Beefheart and Zappa are usually wheeled out at this point. IHAI don't sound like either of them. But if you like that kind of disorentation and like it to have a tune wriggling around deep underneath it, they'll do for you. Flat 508, 25 Church Street, Manchester M4 1PE