It’s something I’ve heard a million times before but still, I have been playing this record on repeat for a day or two.
It’s something I’ve heard a million times before but still, I have been playing this record on repeat for a day or two.
Somewhere in the darker recesses of your cranium you may find a small nugget of information. Maybe it’s a little worn, sticky with fag and takeaway residue, and covered in dog hairs but still something that can inform. This nugget will remind you that you once quite liked the Cult. In passing.
I can’t find anyone “of a certain age” who didn’t like the Cult’s She Sells Sanctuary. Even if it was only that single. And listening to this debut LP by by Dublin’s This Other Kingdom reminded me of the Cult, as well as the Doors and the Bunnymen. Or bands like The Music, who previously tried to plough this particular furrow. This may be a good or a bad thing. I don’t know, as I’m not you. BUT I can report that this LP never sounds like a pastiche, or a colour-by-numbers take on that big, expressive proto-Goth psychedelia from the 80s. At times, with Egocentric and Vacate The Horror, it really kicks off. And tracks like He Controls The Sea – a wind and water Goff stage-set par excellence – remind noggins here of The Waterboys and Interpol.
There is the odd quibble. The mock authoritative booming Morrison-at-the lectern vocal style can wear thin, (opener The Day, Your Day is a case in point). We also get sitar-guitars that lean a bit too close to Mr Sergeant’s ear, and there are maybe too many tracks that plod. The LP’s pace could do with a push now and again, and you do wish for more tracks like the skippy Adelaide. But there are enough sweeping passages, and furls of guitar noise (Enthral) to keep you interested. It’s something I’ve heard a million times before but still, I have been playing this record on repeat for a day or two.