Despite initial reservations, FULC'S "The Fallen EP" ended up spending considerable time in this reviewer's CD player and showed that this excellent, hard'n'heavy Leeds/ Scunthorpe alliance were busy planting their flag and creating space in the ever-competitive pop/metal overspill.
Meanwhile, "Biting Insomnia", their debut album, was recorded over two spells last summer and in January this year, so it's had a lengthy gestation period, but it's been worth it as the end results kick up a mighty thunder without sacrificing either the flexed-muscle tunesmithery or FULC's penchant for natural introspection.
None of which prevents "Biting Insomnia" from pawing the ground and taking off in fine, angsty style with the edgy, gnarly statement of intent that is "Not Lazy." It's one of a number of occasions when FULC are at full tilt, and on tunes like "Heated Shot," "Taken Guilty" and "Nest" (making a welcome return from "The Fallen"), they hit sonic bullseyes repeatedly with their engaging and emotional hard rock, pitched somewhere between Alice In Chains and my old Sunderland heroes, Leatherface.
What's particularly heartening, though, is what happens when FULC deviate from the formula and head into previously uncharted territories, which they do effectively on several occasions. "Feet," for instance, is terrific, with the acoustic intro giving way to a sublime hard-pop monster with some great subterranean stuff from bassist Kris Kilmore and guitarist Rik Clay offsetting the powerchording with some haunting chromatic work John McGeoch would be proud of.
Then there's "Ftb", where Duane Walker relates an ominous little tale ("it's not the fall that kills you, it's the bouncing off the ground") over the sparsest of acoustic frameworks, or - at a separate tangent - "Bruised", where Clay's guitar embroidery recalls the heavier end of the Manics' "Gold Against The Soul." Very favourably, I might add.
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This writer would reserve the gold medal for "Drawn Out," however. It's "Biting Insomnia"s absolute tour de force, with all four band members excelling. Slow(ish) and compelling, it finds the rhythm section inventive and sympathetic, Rik adding some genius E-bow to offset the heartbreak in Duane Walker's voice and Duane delivering his best vocal to date. Like most of his lyrics, it's intensely personal, but suffice it to say that the line: "I took the back route in and got the sense knocked out of me" does me in every time.
My only real criticism of "Biting Insomnia" would be that it does sputter out a little at the tail end. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with either "Hair Trigger" or the ambitious "Again", but after the abundant excellence surrounding it, the former sounds generic and "Again" tries a little too hard to be epic.
These are minor blemishes, though. With canny production from Mark Thomas at the helm (retain him, lads!), FULC have delivered a heart-searing hard rock album that never closes the door on intelligence and sensitivity. Great work all round.
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