“We’re sorry that we’re late,” belts out Ultrasound vocalist Andrew ‘Tiny’ Wood in the midst of opening track ‘Welfare State’. So he bloody should be. It’s been 13 years since the band’s absurdly-hyped debut came out. Back in the late 90s a series of brilliant singles led Ultrasound to sign to Nude after a bidding war, and their debut album was launched with much fanfare in March 1999. Six months later, after mixed reviews, the band split.
So that brings us back to ‘Play For Today’, an album that largely sounds like its been sitting on a shelf since the late 90s. Fans will love it, but building a new audience won’t be easy.
The opening track is cathartic to the extreme: “We crashed and burned but now we’ve returned,” and has the sort of catchy melody the band was renowned for. But why does it have to be almost seven minutes long? Already there’s an air of self-indulgence that hampered the band in the past.
That’s largely forgiven when ‘Beautiful Sadness’ kicks off with a high-tempo guitar/keyboard (a new edition to Ultrasound Mk II) double act. The chorus is euphoric and a beautiful reminder of what this band has always been capable of.
Nonsense’ is another piece reflecting on the past: “I’m too old to make it” with another huge chorus. Melodically the album is masterclass, none more so than on ‘Between Two Rivers’, with the line “This is the land I love, although it sounds so asinine…” hair-raisingly uplifting.
Aside from using their own demise and comeback as inspiration, tracks are heavily political – cursing the Right for what it’s done to the country meaning the overall mood is one of redemption, tinged with regret and anger.
As we twist through psychedelia, prog, Britpop and glam, there are flashes of brilliance and faltering fillers, and ultimately ‘Play for Today’ is a reminder of what a band that once threatened to really be something, might actually have been.
Released October 5th on Fierce Panda.
Posted by Kevin Scott.
