Given the band’s name, it is only right that they embrace a big, anthemic sound, one that owes as much to cinematic grandeur as to rock-and-roll grit and groove. “See Angels” is a real anthem, one built on a neat blend of growling guitars and seductive, wide-screen sonic touches, a blend of post-punk outsiderness and alt-rock adventure.
But for me the intriguing thing is the balance, not of genre but of geography, as the band sound as if they have one foot on either side of the atlantic, blending a certain quality that always feels quintessentially English with some more markedly US sonic traits, perhaps not unlike that evolved sound that The Cult brewed up in late-eighties as they turned their sights to conquering America.
There is also a touch of the same psychedelic spirit that ran through bands like The Church (blimey, now I’ve got the Aussies involved) and Echo and the Bunnymen.) The result is a song that is sonically lush, seductively creative, and richly rewarding.
And as much as I keep referencing bands from the past (although, in my defence, how can you do otherwise, I mean, everything sounds like something that has gone before and I can’t predict the future,) this is no nostalgia fest, but rather music built on the same classic lines and sense of adventure that all the best bands share.
That said, my 20-year-old self would have heard this and thought it was the second coming, and I’m sure that there will be young, discerning music fans who will believe the same as they hear this today. And if not, they damn well should!
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