Victorian English Gentlemens Club - Impossible Sightings Over Shelton

  by Adam Wood

published: 15 / 10 / 2006

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Review

Cardiff art rock scamps the Victorian English Gentlemens' Club just get better and better. The third single from their eponymous first record is ‘Impossible Sightings Over Shelton,’ and more importantly, it is a triumph. Tossing aside the jittery, stop-start sound of their previous singles, ‘Impossible Sightings…’ even has a tangible song structure. Its tattoo drumming is not unlike U2’s ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday,’ and coupled with a pulsing, urgent bass guitar, the track lurches into a full blown, Wedding Present-esque chorus, complete with acoustic overlays. But although this is an accomplished foray into proper indie pop song territory, ‘Impossible Sightings’ still deploys some of the band's regular trade marks. The track retains the shouty, call-response vocals of Adam Taylor and band Emma Daman and Louise Mason as well as grinding to almost a complete halt halfway through the song. The Victorian English Gentlemens' Club are coming close to being the band of the year, and like their other records to date, ‘Impossible Sightings’ is a scruffy, deranged sort of animal. Combined with their wilfully discordant live displays, the Victorian English Gentlemens' Club are not to be missed, at any cost.

Track Listing:-

1 Impossible Sightings Over Shelton
2 Train

Label Links:-

http://www.fpmusic.org/