I loved this based on the envelope it came in: artfully decorated with dribbles of black ink. And then the CD sleeve was so promisingly ominous, all silver silk-screened clock tower and bold type on black. I was prepped for some apocalyptic guitar scree a la High Rise or some even more obscure Japanese psyche-out band, but all I got at first was a guy and a guitar. A little Loren Mazzacane Connors soloing appeared on the second track and there was some ambient noise on the third, but it wasn’t until song four that things started rocking with guitar plus synths melding into an epic anthem that was only lacking a drummer. And then the drum machine kicks in on song five and suddenly I’m listening to circa-’80s synth-pop, a million miles from where we started and all the better for it. It’s catchy and propulsive and optimistic. And then we head back to the quiet stuff. Music is a journey. This CD proves it. (Terence Dick)
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