Music to get nervous to:
I'm getting a bit sick of the new wave of artschool-a-likes clogging up East London rehearsal spaces with black drainpipes and flannelette vests. It's not that I require authenticity from my skinny alt pop-stars but, dare I say it, originality seems to be in shorter supply than beard trimmers on Shoreditch high street.
The Fallout Trust sing songs about alienation, dislocation and love in a dystopian society - or at least as far as I can tell from anecdotal evidence since I can hardly hear the words. They descend from the same line as David Byrne and Brian Eno and they trawl the same murky and mirthless depths as Radiohead and their imitators but, crucially, I think they're a bit original.
Yes, they have their own cut and paste formula, but it's more of a case of quadratic equations than simple addition. It's Music that lurches between sparse and jagged, guitar-spike landscapes and full-on Freddie Mercury style operatic, scattered with unexpected moments more reminiscent of 70's white jazz-funk.
Their new album kicks off well with the valedictory sounding 'when we are gone', the new single. It introduces the listener to their trademark epic choruses, nervy verses and stomping electronica. This is followed by their live staple 'them or it' with it's triumphant brass hook opening the song before before breaking down into Joe winters' plaintive voice. Never has the line 'I let my armrest go' (at least that's what i think he says) been imbued with such weighty pathos. The sonic landscape of the next two songs harks back to Berlin era Bowie and...even...Err...Coldplay (sorry guys) on 'where there's no cold to feel. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The FOT experimenting with slightly lighter material might mean that they are able to endure longer than the dreadfully earnest but doomed band they might be in danger of being.
TVM is one of the best moments of the album eschewing typical song writing for a beautifully unpredictable chorus and vocal breakdown of 'I wanna get that feelin' back'. For me, this is when the FOT are at their best, creating raw, emotional soundscapes eschewing their occasionally excessively self-conscious style of music writing. Perky, they ain't, but it manages to both be cerebral and moving. 'Cover up the man' displays the more nervous, manic end of the FOT canon and is followed by the funky and strangely weller-esque 'washout'. This is the least typical song on the album others, jumping from a 'Jam' like intro to a 'style council' chorus. The FOT do a song that's fun? Marvellous, and it shows the mask of utter seriousness slipping a bit. Thank god.
Joe sings, 'I am not an invitation on the next page of a borrowed book now, 'cos I'm wrapped in a curtain that fell from my stage when my world shook down' on 'One generation wall'. And it is a shame that it is one of the least successful recordings on the album because it contains some beautiful words and great ideas. No idea what he's on about.. but I like it!
The next three songs seem to tail off a little - 'No beacon' doesn't really seem to get started and 'your message' fails to raise much more excitement. The last track, 'Take comfort from me' is a bit of an odd one. It sounds a bit like Richard Harris doing a Weilian interpretation of Laughing Gnome era David Bowie. Personally that's OK by me but it leaves me wanting a climactic chorus that never appears.
The Fallout Trust worry me because they rarely seem to give a hint that they are anything less than very, very serious on record. Nothing wrong with that but outside the many excellent moments it can make for a fatiguing listen. They do, however, stand outside the cosy conventions of the current art-wave, pretend punk tosh by writing intelligent and moving music which tries to be.... A BIT DIFFERENT. Yes, nearly a crime in the 21st Century but If you like beautiful music that sounds like something you haven't heard before then buy this.
The Fallout Trust official website
The Fallout Trust on myspace
