A swirling cacophony of drums, guitars and keyboard welcomes us into the wonderfully tight opening track ‘Obelisk Monolith’ that oozes melody, pace, wit and invention which continues throughout this cracking 26-minute debut from Brighton 3-piece The Physics House Band.
The aforementioned opening track rips along with adds several break-downs and build-ups to add drama and never outstays its 5 minute duration for a second. A tremendous attention-grabbing track …..
‘Abraxical Solapse’ showcases the undoubted technical skills of these young lads without lapsing into ‘noodling for the sake of noodling’ territory and there are enough quirky beats, dislocated chords and chunking riffs to make this a really interesting, but complex, track.
‘Hollow Mountain’ then comes into view shimmering like a heat-haze with ethereal guitar loops, delicate synths and an atmospheric, light feel. A wonderful little interlude with a hint of the early work of Japanese band Mono.
The pace picks up again as a gorgeous riff brings us to ‘Teratology’ which reminds me of The Fierce and the Dead at their best. Mad guitar work cascades all around the central riff with a real tension. Add a bit of nuclear drumming, drop off back to the opening riff and you have one hell of a succinct, bloody good track.
Did I mention this was instrumental by the way? To be honest, I hadn’t even noticed this even after a few plays, which is a sign how engaging this music is.
There are some great ideas on the debut, none more so on the second quiet track ‘The Spectral Beyond’ where the chinking single note, building up, suggests a sound-track with space and light and hints of Craig Armstrong. This track could really be developed into something special – as it is, it’s a little breather before the final track ‘Titan’ which takes us into prog-jazz-funk territory and completes a wonderfully engaging debut album.
There are not many notes wasted on this album. It is tight as hell, technically clever, melodic and rhythmic - definitely one to watch.
