Snares & Kites
Tricks of Trapping
(Inbetweens CD)
Imagine three minutes or
so sections of insolent dreamy ambient vocals,
fluid guitar motifs, both jangly and riffy, that
mould the song structure rather than fit into
chord progressions, a functional and spiky rhythm
section and a clear, precise production sound.
I'd hope that lot gives a fair indication of what
Snares and Kites are about. Allow me to elaborate
slightly. Song titles such as 'Lewis v.
Clark', ' Helmet, oh helmet', 'F-150' and '
Herself without a parliament' may give some
clue as to what goes on here. The press release
from the record label speaks of ' a post punk
continuation of the music of Big Star, Public
Image Ltd. and Television', yet what we have
here is far more akin to, say, R.E.M.'s early
works such as 'Murmur' in the way that the
pieces, both vocal and instrumental, drift
through the listener's consciousness, creating an
initial impression of vitality but ending up as,
well, rock musak. There's not enough to grab hold
of for my liking, which isn't to say that there
aren't memorable moments of both composition and
playing; 'F-150' in particular achieves
that and more, with a driving rhythmic
sensibility, whereas 'Bachelor Machine'
possesses an aching melody that lingers longer
than most of its surroundings. What Big Star,
Public Image Limited and Television all conveyed
to greater or lesser extent was a tension of
dynamic and a disruptive absence of continuous
flow that jarred the listener into really listening.
As with early R.E.M., I found it too easy to let
Snares & Kites wash over me, creating an
uneasy feeling of detachment. These are talented
musicians; if they can decide whether they want
to do music or songs it should all become more
focussed. Over to you.
SPEARMINT
A Week Away
(Hitback CD)
'Ere 'tis, the debut long
player from possibly the only group capable of
evoking Wham! and Dinosaur Jr. on the same
disc. By now of course you all know the singles 'A
Trip Into Space' and 'Sweeping The Nation'
(both included herein) as well as you know your
local greengrocer so I won't bore you with the
details; suffice to say that for me they actually
represent the thin end of the Spearmint web, too
much froth and insufficient grit. By contrast, 'It
Won't Be Long Now' evokes the early 45s with
its post-Buzzcocks effervescence and Shirley
Lee's typically breathless
torrent-of-consciousness intensely personal
reading-someone-else's-diary lyrics. (A brief
carp; the lyrics sometimes gives the effect that
they wouldn't penetrate far, as the late great
Phil Ochs would have it, 'outside a small
circle of friends'.) Another undoubted
highpoint is the opening title track, a brief
chronicle of a holiday from heaven and/or hell
documented at speed with constant changes of
tempo and mood. I have to confess that I care far
more for the uptempo poppier tracks than the
sample-heavy and samba tinged numbers, which may
partly account for why there seems to be an
overall lack of cohesion here to the extent that
the singles compilation from last year actually
works better as an entity. On the playing side,
Shirley's guitar playing has taken on new
confidence and poise, as has Ronan's drumming,
though the star is still James on bass; he brings
a consistently fresh and unorthodox dynamic to
the songs here. Maybe it's just me, but I can't
help wishing Spearmint had done more singles
instead of a full length CD; the former format
seems to suit them better. Maybe it is just
me; this is another good record by Spearmint.
J.Nagle.
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