Details:
I was under the impression that Electric Soft Parade were in fact no more, or at the very least on a long hiatus. What with the White brother’s involvement with The Brakes and considering how long ago the splendid but a little unfocused ‘Holes in the Wall’ debut album was. Sure there was slightly ill fated ‘American Adventure’ album a year later, but all this was four years ago.
This album is if anything more consistent, but perhaps doesn’t quite reach the lofty height of some of the debut albums tracks. This isn’t to say that the album on the whole is flat, it marks a welcome return to form but it requires a couple of plays to draw the listener in. Opener ‘No Need to be Downhearted (Part I)’ is a predictable sultry start, with sparse instrumentation on the piano. It almost sounds like a Jamie Cullam song before the little sprite starts getting over excited on sugar and jumping about.
‘Life in the Backseat’ brings back the Britpop which anyone who’s previously heard the band will know that they can do exceptionally well. There is a bit of a difference though, with more keyboards on show hinting at a slight Granddaddy direction, other parts meandering songs which seem to echo the Doves or Elbow. It is the strong keyboard influence however that really stands out, like a fuzzier Joy Division, Electric Soft Parade carve out one or two moments of sunshine from the grey skies we come to expect that our summer will bring.
Previous release ‘If That’s the Case, Then I Don’t Know’ is a rather catchy piece of music, with some stomping guitar riffs in the background in amongst the bleeps and astronomical style effects. Whereas previously such songs haven’t managed to hold there own throughout and had to switch in style or tempo, this marauds comfortably through the five minutes set for it. ‘Misunderstanding’ harks at ‘Empty at the End’ while ‘Cold World’ has single potential too it, mainly because it wanders into the middle of the road territory as it sounds like The Thrills.
My only complaint would be that ‘Shore Song’, ‘Secrets’ and a few others are a little too similar too each other in composition. That being said, while it perhaps doesn’t have the instant wow that a couple of songs from the debut album had, this collection of tracks is more timely and mature. It may take a while but hopefully you can appreciate the gentle joy of Electric Soft Parade.
Listen: www.myspace.com/electricsoftparade
Tracklist:
1. No Need to be Downhearted (Part I)
2. Life in the Backseat
3. Woken By A Kiss
4. If That’s the Case, Then I Don’t Know
5. Shore Song
6. Misunderstanding
7. Secrets
8. Cold World
9. Have You Ever Felt Like It’s Too Late?
10. Come Back Inside
11. Appropriate Ending
12. No Need to be Downhearted (Part II)
