Late of the Pier - Fantasy Black Channel

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 26 / 8 / 2008

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Review

‘Fantasy Black Channel’ is the debut CD from Castle Donnington four-piece Late of the Pier, and is nearly everyone's album of the month at the moment. The group have developed a reputation for being eclectic, and ‘Fantasy Black Channel’ certainly shows off the many sides of their often eccentric personality. Instrumental ‘Hot Tent Blues’ opens the album and starts off sounding like a 70’s prog track, before becoming more funky and developing into a dance rock number. ‘Broken’ is like a continuation of the first number. It is again funky but this time features vocals from singer Samuel Eastgate and eventually develops into a very commercial-sounding Britpop number. Early single, ‘Space and the Woods’, is catchy and edgy, and, very early 80’s in sound, recollects Gary Numan. ‘The Bears are Coming’ was the last single and only released in physical form on 10 inch vinyl. It is a wacky Bjork-style number. When the vocals kicks it develops an element of the Talking Heads, becoming a mad mix of funk and rock. ‘Random Firl’ is a commercial pop number in the style of the Scissor Sisters. ‘Heartbeat’, the current single, is again catchy and edgy, while ‘Whitesnake’ is a wacky synth pop number that eventually develops metal guitars. Samuel’s vocals on it recall those of Ron Mael from Sparks, but have more of a thrashy tone. ‘VW’ is a dark Gothic number, which starts off sounding like one of the songs from the Cure’s ‘Pornography’, before eventually adding bagpipes and a church organ. ‘Focker’ is a strange combination of early 80’s Gary Numan-style pop and indie guitar acts like the Arctic Monkeys and the Killers. ‘The Enemy are the Future’ is soft and acoustic, almost folk like, before speeding up to sound again like the early Talking Heads. ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ comes on like a fast train, sounding like a combination of the early Cure and Gang of Four. ‘Bathroom Gurgle’ is poppy with an indie edge. As it moves into its second half it becomes quite comical, like the Darkness and the Scissor sisters have merged, before getting faster and much more serious. The last track is uncredited and untitled and sounds like an acoustic psychedelic Pink Floyd.

Track Listing:-

1 Hot Tent Blues
2 Broken
3 Space and the Woods (Cenzo Townshend Mix)
4 The Bears Are Coming (Original)
5 Random Firl
6 Heartbeat (Cenzo Townshend Version)
7 Whitesnake
8 VW
9 Focker
10 The Enemy Are the Future
11 Mad Dogs and Englishmen
12 Bathroom Gurgle
13 Digital Booklet: Fantasy Black Channel

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