The Slip Case

I'm going to Klub Kak tonight and Audioscope tomorrow, and I saw local heroes Stornoway and old chums Foxes! last night. Some other people shall be watching explosions in the drizzle, but I think I've got the better deal.


BELOW THE FALL – COMMISSIONER (Witch Hunter Records)

Tinkering with Google in an attempt to find out who Below The Fall are, and how they’ve got a professional CD single with a really lovely inksplodge raven illustration when we’re sure they’ve never played a gig inside the county boundaries, we stumble across their record label’s website. There we discover that this record is one of five releases, two of which are by acts with the brilliant/atrocious (toss a coin if, like us, you’re not sure) names Trippy Wicked & The Cosmic Children Of The Knight and Bumsnogger; the other two releases are both by Year Of The Flood, a sludge metal act “based on the books of Margaret Atwood”, one of whom used to be in a band called – wait for it - Jesus Of Spazzareth.

Call us jaded, and enticed by the merest novelty, frippery or bagatelle, but all of these records sound as though they’re more interesting than the one we’ve ended up with. However, Below The Fall are clearly a decent act, especially considering they’d never played a gig together at the time of recording this pair of tunes, who have created a beautifully recorded and solidly played rock record with a strong melodic sense, and the tiniest hint of a goth billow to proceedings to keep the music atmospheric and on the right side of tedious emo bluster. Rhythmically it’s pretty spotless, if also somewhat earthbound, and Alex Breadmore’s drums exhibit precision without ever quite capturing the head-nodding power of great heavy rock. If the A side is an arching effort that loosely recalls locals Days Of Grace, the accompanying track “Just Run Away” is probably the better of the two, Dan Hunter’s airy voice surfing some crashing guitar on a preposterously catchy melody. He manages a convincing delivery, despite the fact that an odd Thames Valley Scandiwegian accent means he pronounces “change” as “chiynge”, and “memories” as (hyuck hyuck) “mammaries”.

If you like your rock music approachable, well structured and sounding a lot like it came from about 2001, then this could well be the band for you. This record is a great effort but, if there’s a choice between listening to an impeccably made piece of High Street rock, and just sitting back and imagining what Bumsnogger might sound like, then I’m afraid we’d choose the Eject button every time.