Soft Science - Detour (Test Pattern Recordings)
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| Soft Science - Detour |
There seems to be a divide
between British and American bands at a certain point in life. In the USofA,
bands can exist and have perfectly good careers who, in the UK, would otherwise
end up being accountants, architects or financial advisors. Maybe it's
something in that American dream ethos or the over-willingness of the English
to give up on their dreams of rock stardom. Either way, Soft Science is one of
those bands that would probably have ceased to exist in the UK years ago so I'm
glad they're American!
You'll notice a trend as we go
through this album that Soft Science like one word titles and so things start
with 'Nothing', a dreamy shoegazing number that introduces us to the angelic
vocal stylings of Katie Haley. As we move through 'Light', 'Feel' and 'Matter'
you very quickly get the feeling that somewhere along the line these guys sat
down and said "we want to make an album that sounds like St Etienne,
Dubstar, Belly, the Cranberries and the Magic Numbers" because that's
exactly what they've done and it's mighty, mighty fine. 'Gone' has a more gentle
feel to it as the guitars are liberally coated in layers of synths and Haley's
vocals drift like a fluffy white cloud over a small rural campsite. Then again,
'Blue' is a rambunctious little indie-pop upstart that would have been entirely
at home on any kind of Britpop compilation from the mid-90s. 'Please' has a an
electro ballad feel to it while 'Falling' is a full on indie-disco anthem in
the making - people just need to hear it to fall in love with it first. As the
album approaches the end we are treated to 'Cold', a delicately defiant piece
of whimsy, and 'Daydream' which starts with a swathe of distortion before continuing
in exactly that vein for 90 seconds for no good reason at all. This is a dreamy
album of indie-shoegazing-pop and that will appeal hugely to certain
demographic. I am in that demographic. Yay me!
More information: https://www.facebook.com/softsciencemusic