It's taken a while for sure, but it's been worth it. In tandem with Cork-based Sofa Records and Swedish-based producer Mark O'Sullivan, Cork's finest mercurial popsters STANLEY SUPER 800 notch up their second album, 'Louder & Clearer.'
The title's particularly apt, too, for while the band's still-fine eponymous debut more than had its' moments, its' eagerly-anticipated follow-up is a far more cohesive effort and one which begins to really harness the enormous talent that's been displayed by Ireland's best band in waiting for the past few years.
Not that SS800'S distinctive quirkiness has been dispensed with by any means and even the briefest of listens to tracks like the hilarious '33 Seconds' ( actually 45 seconds in length before abruptly ending with a pissed-off mobile phone voicemail message) and - at the other end of the spectrum - the Chemical Brothers-meets-Krautrock drive of the instrumental 'Stars Come Out' show that the Stan and the boys' mischievous desire to pull off a range of stylistic sonic heists remains paramount.
Crucially, though, they have really grown to understand themselves as a unit in the period since their debut album. Yes, diversity may still be the watchword where Stan O'Sullivan's wonderful, idiosyncratic songwriting is concerned , but over the past couple of years drummer Dave Hackett's presence has given the band notable extra power and scope, Flor Rahilly has become a consummate bassist and multi-intrumentalist Tosh O'Sullivan's skills ensure SS800 have versatility to spare where many of their contemporaries are stuck in the same old bass, guitar and drums rut.
The danceable elements that separated SS800'S debut from the pack have been retained in places. The electroid, semi-ambient introductory instrumental fleetingly recalls Syd Barrett jamming with Tangerine Dream, while Mark O'Sullivan's sterling re-mixes of debut album favourites 'Moonlight' and the evergreen 'Voices In The Music' are dreamy and mellow and layered and melodic respectively. Indeed, while there's always been an indefinable, hypnotic greatness surrounding 'Voices In The Music', this mix finally seems to nail it at last. Actually, the part where it's making for the fade and Stan and Flor harmonise on the kiss-off "I can feel your heart beat" line remains one of your reviewer's very favourite SS800 moments.
Elsewhere, Stan's seemingly inherent knack of keeping a killer tune or two in reserve for just the right moment proves happily intact. Both the beefy 'Gatecrashing' and effervescent 'Hello' sound like heavyweight hit singles given a fair opportunity and I defy any pop head worth their Walkers to deny either the muscular drumming, Dee Dee Ramone bassline invective and Magazine-style keyboards of the former or the sheer life-affirming, anthemic fun of the latter. A similar - though more sombre - melodic assurance sweeps through the intriguing 'Dark Angel', where Stan may or may not be addressing depression when he sings "serenade me with a requiem mass/ lie on the bed and I watch the clouds float past". Then there's the lovely 'Only You', where Stan gives us a glimpse of his gentler, romantic side and the band weigh in with one of their most restrained and impressive performances to date. It suits them beautifully, I might add.
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The band slip into a slightly more experimental skin as the album nears its' final furlong. The abrasive 'Love x3' has been a live favourite for a while and - as well as supplying the album's title within its' opaque lyrics - its' recorded counterpart proves itself to be repetitious and monstrously magnificent, egged on by Dave's building-toppling drums, cranked and wired guitars and a lurching groove with the intensity of Alternative TV''s 'Splitting In Two.' The two-pronged instrumental pairing of 'A23' and 'Southwind', meanwhile, round things off with the former's keyboards and enigmatic atmosphere again recalling Magazine and 'Southwind' bringing us full circle and referencing the pastorality of 'Introducing' before the band smash their way in and set up a taut, bass-heavy exercise along the lines of Joy Division's 'Incubation'.
'Louder & Clearer', then, plugs everything from trance-y textures to Super Furries-style off-kilter pop and Ramones-esque intensity into its' personal power grid without ever sacrificing its' own personality. It's eclectic, inspired and frequently totally sublime. Listen up out there.
(http://www.myspace.com/stanleysuper800)
(www.stanleysuper800.com)
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