Just back from holiday (Cornwall, a lovely time, thank you for asking), to find the new Squid CD, their second, had been delivered.
They've been fairly quiet since their superb Glastonbury appearance last year, so I'm looking forward to this.
And the opening song Swing (In A Dream) doesn't disappoint. Squid's angular, busy, full sound augmented by trumpet accompaniment is still alive. Devil's Den develops slowly, vocals intoming over a simple woodwind theme, until two minutes in, all hell is let loose and a frantic couple of minutes follows. Siphon Song is much slower and flows with synth distorted vocals under a growing accompaniment, both choral and the band and it's simple yet complex building to a crescendo before a gentle guitar interlude leads it back up. Then, suddenly, we're into the funky beat of Undergrowth, a staccato guitar picking an intro before a powerful song, possibly the most orthodox 'pop song' so far on the album.
The Blades is another complex, layered song building to a climax as the shouty vocals reach a peak, before a quiet run off, while After The Flash plods along slowly, with an almost ambient rising scale taking over before the beat kicks back in, and is carried by the trumpets. Green Light is a fantastic song, loud, exciting, just ace! The album ends with the bizarre If You Had Seen The Bull's Swimming Attempts You Would Have Stayed Away, a sprawling, wandering epic with the whole of Squid in one song - soft vocals, shouty vocals, guitars, electronics, trumpets a killer bass line and a choral accompaniment, and I'm thinking Zappa meets Magma!
This album isn't as immediate as its predecessor, and at second listen, I'm not sure there are the same number of great songs. But I've enjoyed the listen and I feel there's so much more to discover in these songs.
4* - a great album, which requires more active listening than their earlier work, but I'm sure will prove equally rewarding.
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