The White Kites - Missing (Deep Field Records)
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| The White Kites - Missing |
This is just mental. When you
read that a band is Poland based Psychedelic rock group you expect big,
overblown, almost prog tunes. You don't expect 'Yellow Submarine' era Beatles
sublimely performed with wit and real affection. Nevertheless, Warsaw based
septet The White Kites have created something pretty amazing here and opening
track 'Arrival' just confirms this - complete with ringmaster style orations
and multi-instrumentation madness throughout. The comparatively serene piano
and flute opening to 'The Foreigner' may well be an ode to the band's frontman,
Sean Palmer, who is distinctly un-Polish sounding in name but has a perfectly
dreamy mid-Atlantic vocal style that suits these musical adventures so well.
'Stowaway Style' is a chugging, jaunty tale of adventures on the high seas
whilst 'Percival Buck' is swinging 60s piece of swagger that you could just
imagine drifting out of a groovy clothes shop on Carnaby Street back in the
day.
'Beyond The Furthest Star' is an
epic song, nearly seven minutes long and almost orchestral but it doesn't
really do anything for me, it just drags a bit I'm afraid. Nevertheless,
'Should You Wait For Me' is a much more lively waltz of a tune and 'Turtle's
Back' almost has a Black Sabbath feel to it but only if Ozzy had been more of a
hippy and wrote lines like "Here's my hand, big enough to fit the whole of
mankind in". The curiously titled 'When Will May Return?' is not a song
about sending Brian May to the shops for a loaf of bread and toilet roll and
the inevitable wait for his return. No, rather it is romp through psychedlia
infused meadows featuring lyrical topics on the sun and the moon, charms and
nymphs. 'Clown King' starts off with a haunting recorder intro followed by
dramatic organ work and it is all starting to get a bit Spinal Tap/Stone Henge
(please note, I flippin' love Spinal Tap but I'm just not sure if this music is
100% po-faced serious or a perfectly performed tongue-in-cheek homage).
'Pause For Thought' is just under
a minute of serenity designed to clear your mind, like a palate cleanser during
a five course meal I suppose. Title track, 'The Missing', is like the theme
tune to a 60s/70s American cop show with improbable story lines but some great
acting and a lot of heartache on the part of the cop. Final track, 'Farewell',
is another epic tune in terms of length that doesn't seem to really grab the
attention or imagination at any point which is a shame. All in all, I have been
pleasantly surprised by this album but it started off better than it finished
so maybe an EP would have been better.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/TheWhiteKites