Bristolian
Prog-poppers' third album!
Prog-influenced music gets a raw deal. Not aided by the fact that in the mid '70s the genre became overblown and bloated, characterised by extended solos, costume changes, money-losing stage designs and even an ice-rink! However its main crime was that it took itself too seriously.
Thirty years on, here's
Schnauser, a Bristolian quartet whose music claws back some
credibility for all things Prog, as well injecting it with a welcome
sense of humour and fun. Though they might have passed under your
radar before, this is actually the band's third album, their first
since 2010's The Sound Of Meat.
With witty and knowing
songwriting which covers such subjects as the hapless love-life of
early computer gamers (Good Looking Boy, which comes complete with
the sound of a Spetrum ZX81 loading from a cassette), tedious and
predictable conversations (Dinner Party), and uncomfortable social
situations (Large Groups Of Men), the band mine a reach seam of
modern suburban anxiety. It's like Abigail's Party re-imagined as a
concept album and performed by Kevin Ayers.
The Prog tag actually
does Schnauser a dis-service. This is Pop music! Pop in the best
possible sense, in that it's equally indebted to melodic masters as
Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson as it is to Prog virtuoso musicians.
Catchy, purposeful, subversive and fun. For each prog-rock twist,
turn and trapping there's an equally attuned ear for melody. And
despite the album's title it's neither business-like or slavishly
fashionable and is all the better for that.
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