Well known and admired in the UK, Late of the Pier is not new to Philly, having made their debut in our city when they played Making Time in October. But their album wasn't released in the US until January on Astralwerks, so we are now just getting acquainted. And what an exhilirating acquiantance it is! The foursome from Nottingham, England made all the "best of" lists in the UK: NME, Mixmag, Artrocker, Clash, Fact, etc. and now just may makes ours. "Fantasy Black Channel" is a riotious affair, with four of the songs already hit singles in the UK: "Space And The Woods", "Focker", "The Bears Are Coming", and "Bathroom Gurgle". Recorded at the band's Nottingham home studio and London’s Miloko Studios, this breakout album is a fast paced ride through various moods and genres spanning everything from industrial electronica to proggy experimentation to 70s glam guitar rock. Using synth to the extreme and creating noir-ish, spastic dance punk, it's hard to imagine these boys standing still. Channeling Zappa, Gary Numan, David Sylvian, Eno, Gang of Four, Aphex Twin, Robert Plant, and The Darkness, their sound is as adventurous and eccentric as it gets while still maintaining a pop sensibility. Famed DJ and now producer Erol Alkan worked with the band to solidify the tracks for the album, and it must have been a herculean task to craft more identifiable songs from the weird mix, but it really works. Late of the Pier is going to do a proper US tour this Spring, and we gather it will be as well received here as it is in the UK.
Track Listing:
01 Hot Tent Blues
02 Broken
03 Space And The Woods
04 The Bears Are Coming
05 Random Firl
06 Heartbeat
07 Whitesnake
08 VW
09 Focker
10 The Enemy Are The Future
11 Mad Dogs And Englishmen
12 Bathroom Gurgle
13 No Time (hidden track)
(The US version comes with two bonus tracks - an Emperor Machine remix of “The Bears Are Coming” and “Very WAV”.)
Late of the Pier - band site / astralwerks / myspace
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