Easter - Innocence Man

  by John Clarkson

published: 26 / 6 / 2012

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“You haven’t seen the best of me yet/You haven’t seen anything of me yet,” sings Easter main man Thomas Long on ‘Pages’, one of the six tracks of his band’s debut album, ‘Innocence Man’. Indeed, it is absolutely true. We haven’t seen the best of Easter on ‘Innocence Man’. The album was recorded over one night in a loft in the Northern Quarter of the band’s native Manchester. It should have been two, but a first session was accidentally erased, and, with no money or time left, the group was forced to press on as best as it could. Unfortunately what we are left with is not so much lo-fi as ragged, and rushed rather than raw. Easter, which as well as Long (vocals, guitar) also consists of Danny Saul (guitar), Gavin Clarke, (bass) and Andrew Cheetham (drums), are open about their influences of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sonic Youth and Sebadoh. ‘Innocence Man’ is largely a collection of distorted and furious, but all too similar and instantly forgettable guitar wig-outs and drones, topped off with Long’s brusque Northern-accented/David Gedge-style vocals. There are two outstanding moments though which break away from this blueprint. Fourth track, ‘Begin Again’, is softer, merging Long’s solitary plucking guitar with guest player Julie Campbell’s slowly reverberating cello to haunting effect. The final track, the bruised eight-minute ‘Holy Island’, is similarly more memorable, rather than simply plunging away endlessly piling upon tower after tower of distortion, before suddenly cutting out to ebb away in the most glorious of fade-outs. Partly through bad luck and partly through Easter’s own self-impositions, ‘Innocence Man’ is ultimately a frustrating experience. Easter are a group of some potential, but on this album that potential has not been achieved.

Track Listing:-

1 Somethin' American
2 Damp Patch
3 Pages
4 Begin Again
5 Never Me
6 Holy Island

Band Links:-

http://crumpsallpipedreams.tumblr.com/
https://www.facebook.com/easterbanduk
https://twitter.com/easterband
http://easterbanduk.bandcamp.com/
http://easter.bigcartel.com/

Label Links:-

http://whiteboxrecordings.blogspot.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/whiteboxlabel

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