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Album Review

Spectrals
Bad Penny Wichita Recordings

Article written by Ged M - Nov 29, 2011

Spectrals: Bad Penny

Louis Jones, aka Spectrals, has released a string of great singles on various labels (‘7th Date’ being the highlight) over the past year or so, all leading up to the release of his debut album. And, sad to report, his best work is in those singles. The album’s fine but doesn’t have many standouts. It might have the same woozy, reverby sounds and it might mix and match different styles, but it’s not as catchy as before. Of the best songs, ‘Get A Grip’ is chiming, lively, melodic pop out of the Postcard Records stable and ‘Big Baby’ has a stomping glamrock rhythm but ‘Luck Is There To Be Pushed’ absorbs a little too much of the Style Council’s ersatz soulfulness into its meandering, laidback arrangements.

The Leeds-accented vocals remain distinctive, and the song titles are still eccentric, but the record fades into saminess after a while. Drawing on so many influences (lo-fi pop, Spector, the Smiths and Fleetwood Mac to name a few) should produce something rich and multilayered but it becomes a bit flavourless, the whole being much less than the sum of its parts. As an album it’s fine background music but it rarely demands that you listen closely. A disappointing debut, given the promise of those early singles.

Links:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spectrals/106109132779585
http://www.wichita-recordings.com/artists/spectrals/
http://www.myspace.com/spectralspectral