ARTiST: Pugwash
ALBUM: Giddy
BiTRATE: 195kbps avg
QUALiTY: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 --vbr-new / 44.100Khz
LABEL: Ape
GENRE: Rock
SiZE: 65.29 megs
PLAYTiME: 0h 44min 13sec total
RiP DATE: 2009-10-03
STORE DATE: 2009-10-05
Track List:
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01. Apples 3:44
02. It's Nice to Be Nice 3:25
03. Song for You 2:47
04. Anyone Who Asks 3:51
05. Cluster Bomb 2:37
06. Sunrise Sunset 2:18
07. The Season of Flowers and 3:41
Leaves
08. Monorail 2:25
09. My Genius 4:02
10. Finer Things in Life 3:00
11. Black Dog 3:08
12. Two Wrongs 3:38
13. Anchor 5:37
Release Notes:
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Giddy is symphonic folk-pop as it's rarely done. Fortunately, I've lately been
going back to the old Beach Boys masterpieces: Pet Sounds, Holland, etc. for a
re-appraisal of the era's more unusual trends, and Giddy fits beautifully with
the whole time period: Love (Forever Changes), the Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour
forward), Todd Rundgren (up to Wizard, True Star), the Zombies (Odyssey &
Oracle), the Kinks (Village Green through Preservation Act 2), and the more
literately daring composers who were operating to bring a solid new sense of
legitimacy to the sound. Well, leave it to XTC's Andy Partridge to locate a band
this steeped in the high tradition for his Ape House label, and leave it to
Howard Wuelfing to know what that means, PRing it to a milieu much in need of
such a brilliantly festooned sense of wonder.
Giddy broadly incorporates some essences of Smashing Pumpkins, Jane's Addiction,
and others, but their re-investment of a chance-ily incarnated side-tradition
from the Golden Era (mid-60s to mid-70s) is what will draw a flock of ears,
especially those of progfans everywhere, 'cause this is indeed pop on the mellow
progrock side. Klaatu gave it a great try, Kayak absolutely killed (Phantom of
the Night, etc.), Sigmund Snopek ventured thuswards, and Daniel Park (here) very
recently issued an odd but beautiful stunner. Pugwash joins them all. The
further the CD runs, the more sophisticated it gets. Halfway through, you're
drowning in dreamtime symphonies replete with strings, synthesizers, and
mellotrons.
This is an Irish ensemble, but they have the Brit and American sounds nailed to
the wall in a release that's fully state of the art, their fourth. The band's
second release, Jollity\, scored #61 on the list of Top 100 Irish LPs of all
time. Reflective of that honor, quite a range of periods is covered in Giddy.
Genius, for instance, is a modernized 20s sound cinematographic in its shifting
tones, and Black Dog incorporates Tijuana Brass overtones. Sunrise Sunset is a
Julia-esque (Beatles) track while Monorail is vaguely Bonzo Dog Band and
10CC-ish by way of Steve Miller. The overriding vibe, as can be seen, is a 60s /
70s grand panoramic sound blown out to the edges of the tradition, and, if there
are more than six CDs that have been made like this in the last decade, I'd sure
as hell like to know of 'em, 'cause this is damned remarkable.
Oh, and the cover artwork is likewise an eye-catching masterpiece a la a
combination of old Drew Struzan, David Anstey, and Joe Petagno.