LIFT TO EXPERIENCE

Of all the albums I've reviewed on this page this is almost certainly, primae facie, the most interesting. It is, in effect, a double CD concept album about how Texas is the centre of Jerusalem and the band's subsequent quest to redeem humanity. Or along those lines anyway. The band themselves are genuine deep-south hicks with decent sized beards, part time jobs on ranches and instilled with the fear of God. My only real criticism is the album is not quite as good as it could have been. Only one guitar is used throughout and although an impressive sound-spectrum is produced you can't help but feel maybe an extra guitar would have added a bit more ingenuity. For a double concept album you'd certainly expect more guitar solos. Indeed not one is to be heard. Instead guitarist Josh Pearson relies on a transcendental, shimmering approach which does result in a somewhat layered sound. The other major problem is that some of the more restrained sections drag on for a bit, really struggling to hold the interest. "With Crippled Wings" goes on for upwards of ten minutes which really tries the patience. The slow bits do make for a good narrative flow but they just go on for that little bit too long. Also, the up-tempo songs do not rock quite as much as I would have desired. That is not to say they are not interesting or, indeed, good songs but they hardly match the numbers from the Who's concept albums for great rock'n'roll songs. Indeed, Pearson's vocals are very much in the Jeff Buckley mould and, as is often the case with Buckley-imitators, Jeff's passion for rock music (Led Zeppelin in particular) is not really matched on here. That's not to say this album is in league with the likes of Coldplay's Parachutes. God no. I'm just clarifying my point that this album could have been really, really great rather than merely really good. The ambition alone marks it ahead of most of the artistically duff contemporary rock bands around at the moment. Like I said earlier, the narrative flow works pretty well meaning this album comes off as more than just a sum of its parts. It isn't actually that long and if they cut off the "secret" track at the end (just a bit more atmospheric guitar noise-making) they probably could have fitted it on a single CD. But a single CD concept album feels far less remarkable than a double one so I can see where they are coming from. Oh, and perhaps the only other problem with the vocals is that Pearson tends to simply narrate at times. It does make it more spectacular, though, when he moves up a gear into his deceptively angelic vocals. It probably won't surprise you to learn that all but one of the tracks I listed as best are the more up-beat ones. "Falling from Cloud 9" and "Waiting to Hit" from the first CD and "These are the Days" and the final "Into the Storm" from the second disc. The jaunty, almost poppy, "These are the Days" is probably the best of the lot and thus the best song on the album, overall. "Down with the Prophets" is a rare change from Pearson's shimmering guitar to a plain acoustic and with an apocalyptic fiddle as backing. The melody isn't the best on the album but the change of tact makes the song stand out and it is certainly atmospheric. The rest of the tracks are the slower, brooding numbers that as narrative pieces mostly work well but in their own right...well, they ain't gonna be appearing on chart hit compilations any time soon. Therefore this is a unique and atmospheric concept album. An intriguing album in such dull times. It just isn't quite as good as it could have been.

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Email me at: jackfeeny@yahoo.co.uk