You really know when you’ve fallen for a genre when you start buying outside the cannon. Musos will generally be able to recognise the big hitters in any given popular style, but it’s only when you begin to fly under the radar that you start getting to the exciting stuff.
Enter The Merry Thoughts. Unmistakably, they are heavily modelled on the tried, tested and thoroughly approved Eldrichian industrial groove machine template. Arkham, the band’s front man even does a passable imitation of Von E’s vocals. This leaves us with the obvious problem; are the Merry Thoughts not just a blatant Sisters of Mercy clone?
I’ll let you decide, but keep in mind the following. Vision Thing, the most contemporary to Psychocult, is by far the worst of the three albums. The energy and vibrancy found in much of the Sisters’ back catalogue was only tapped to small degrees in comparison to its lineage. This lack of desire is certainly not a charge that can be levelled at The Merry Thoughts. In any case, we haven’t had a Sisters offering since 1993, is it really such a crime to head elsewhere when we can find something which is so sonically pleasing? Perhaps I’m being generous, but I’m inclined to say that here, imitation is the sincerest flattery.
Psychocult was the final album of a two album back catalogue, and had an all together darker, more cohesive sound than the first offering, yet still maintaining a pleasing balance between synth, guitar and esoteric lyricism. We Love To is by far and away the standout track; an up-tempo, dancefloor friendly bum shaker of a track.
The moral of this story? Never judge a book by its cover. Just because they wear black in excessive quantities doesn’t mean they can’t provide a monstrously danceable tune when they want to.
Enter The Merry Thoughts. Unmistakably, they are heavily modelled on the tried, tested and thoroughly approved Eldrichian industrial groove machine template. Arkham, the band’s front man even does a passable imitation of Von E’s vocals. This leaves us with the obvious problem; are the Merry Thoughts not just a blatant Sisters of Mercy clone?
I’ll let you decide, but keep in mind the following. Vision Thing, the most contemporary to Psychocult, is by far the worst of the three albums. The energy and vibrancy found in much of the Sisters’ back catalogue was only tapped to small degrees in comparison to its lineage. This lack of desire is certainly not a charge that can be levelled at The Merry Thoughts. In any case, we haven’t had a Sisters offering since 1993, is it really such a crime to head elsewhere when we can find something which is so sonically pleasing? Perhaps I’m being generous, but I’m inclined to say that here, imitation is the sincerest flattery.
Psychocult was the final album of a two album back catalogue, and had an all together darker, more cohesive sound than the first offering, yet still maintaining a pleasing balance between synth, guitar and esoteric lyricism. We Love To is by far and away the standout track; an up-tempo, dancefloor friendly bum shaker of a track.
The moral of this story? Never judge a book by its cover. Just because they wear black in excessive quantities doesn’t mean they can’t provide a monstrously danceable tune when they want to.
The Merry Thoughts - We Love To by dcp84
The Merry Thoughts – Psychocult
[Oblivion: SPV 085-61392]
(1996)
Discogs: €10.50
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment