Currently there seems to be a new wave of bands who are emulating the psychedelic, intense shoe-gazing sound (or “Nu-Gazing” as described [probably] by some twatty Shoreditch haircut wannabe) produced by bands such as Mogwai, Spiritualized, and the Jesus and Mary Chain, etc. And none more so than THE EARLY YEARS.
This is beautiful. The title track “All Ones And Zeros” opens with a wondrous tidal wave of sound comprised of hypnotic beats, throbbing monotonous baselines, soaring feedback and searing noise, culminating in a healthy dose of drum abuse and probable ear bleeding. With frontman David Malkinson hurling the semi-shamanic chanting “All Ones and Zeros”, the listener is left with nothing but reams of binary code digits whizzing through their brains.
“I Heard More” is more gentle, but still retains it’s sense of spaciousness and transcends above the more traditional rock and roll ethic, creating a sonic landscape of oceanic proportions, very much in the spirit of Spiritualized and Mogwai.
And just to emphasise that point, the final track, “I Hear Voices”, clocks in at 11 minutes and 44 seconds. This is a soporific, chloroform-tinged, demented number, reminiscent of the Future Sound Of London. It begins fairly ambient, with eerie howls, deep industrial bellows, moaning guitar noises, that slowly builds until it culminates in an orgiastic tangle of hard-rockin guitar distortion, thrashing drums, and yet more feedback – the listener is left exhausted and flattened in the post coital haze of the tune by the time it had steamrolled it's way by.
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It stands to reason that this style of music should be resurrected. After all, we’ve been through piano-bashing power ballads (the “Keane years”), we’re on the tail end of sharp-edged post punk (the “Franz Ferdinand years”), so naturally it’s time for the return of the shoe-gazers. Which is great because this style naturally promotes an ethic of experimentation and non-conformity.
We’ll see how it all pans out, but in the meantime, go out, get high and lie back, listen to The Early Years and imagine what it would be like to be the solar system.
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