-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Ambient * Ethereal *
Artist..: Pale Saints
Album...: In Ribbons
GENRE....: Indie
STYLE....: Shoegaze
LABEL....: Rough Trade SCENE.....: 2015-12-11
BITRATE..: 735 kbps avg STORE.....: 1992-00-00
ENCODER..: FLAC 1.2.1 -8 -V TRACKS....: 12
SIZE.....: 276.5MB SOURCE....: CD
URL..: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Ribbons
- TRACKLIST
1 Throwing Back The Apple 4:09
2 Ordeal 3:58
3 Thread Of Light 4:05
4 Shell 4:54
5 There Is No Day 0:39
6 Hunted 7:42
7 Hair Shoes 5:48
8 Babymaker 3:25
9 Liquid 2:43
10 Neverending Night 4:45
11 Featherframe 4:38
12 A Thousand Stars Burst Open 4:39
Total Playtime: 51:25
Pale Saints is the forgotten band of the shoegaze genre, and this is their
best album. They use subtle arrangements and elusive melodies that gets you
on a trip, floating, like only shoegaze can do. But what I really like with
this band is that they never fall into a kind of "shoegaze cliche" of silly
dreampop songs. Ian Masters' voice is angelic and unique, following weird
melodies and unpredictable changes. The overall effect is often on the edge
between the comfort of the unreal and the harshness of reality. There is 3
songs with the female voice of another Shoegaze band: Lush, but the best
tracks are definitly those with Masters leading the ship to unknown places,
especially: "Shell", "Hunted", "Hair Shoes" and "Neverending Night", all
these song are among the best in Shoegaze history, as well as the album.
*
An argument could be made for In Ribbons topping the Pale Saints' debut, and
it would be a rather solid one. Thanks to yet another stellar job by "knob
twiddler of the mighty atmospheric pop bands" Hugh Jones, the Pale Saints
sound full and polished, gleaming and bright. What makes this a lesser record
in comparison to its predecessor is the absence of that loose sense of
adventure from before. The songs are strong, the musicianship is improved,
and Meriel Barham's presence as second guitarist and vocalist provides for
more muscularity, but In Ribbons is missing the slightly perverse sense of
experimentation that The Comforts of Madness had in spades. The
unpredictability is gone, which is one of the few downsides of a band whose
members are getting to know each other musically. That doesn't prevent In
Ribbons from being a great record, stacked to the gills with great songs.
Barham's sporadic contributions provide a fine spoil to those of Ian Masters.
The mid-tempo moodiness of "Thread of Light" benefits from Jones' excellent
treatment of her voice, with swooning backgrounds that dart between the left
and right channels. (The verses bear odd sonic resemblance to Duran Duran's
"Save a Prayer" -- no kidding.) Her reading of Slapp Happy's "Blue Flower"
tops Mazzy Star's version, and "Baby Maker" also makes the grade with its
dizzied liveliness. Masters' love for the abandonment of rock constructs
strikes upon a zenith on "Hair Shoes," a drumless cluster of limpidly
jousting guitars that simultaneously jiggle, rattle, moan, twinkle, and
reverberate. His miasmatic vocals seal the track off as a brilliant
approximation of the oceanic wash of 69-era AR Kane. Otherwise, more
accessible fare, like the sprightly "Throwing Back the Apple" (a single) and
the melancholy epic "Hunted," are also accountable for the record's success.
Though these tracks' more traditionally structured material doesn't sound a
great deal different from many of the Pale Saints' peers, the wan voice of
Masters -- who sounds less world-weary here -- clearly sets this unit apart.
-=- SHGZ -=-
P.S.
** Thanks ***
*** BCC FNT IPC SSR ***
*** For Knowing Where The Music Is At ***
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* NuHS we miss you! *
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