TURF ASCENSION

It took fifteen years for Bubblemath to produce their excellent second album, 'Edit Peptide', but it has only been five for them to release their third, 'Turf Ascension', which we should all be grateful for. There are less Cardiacs influences in this one, more Gentle Giant plus King Crimson, and a definite switch to the more melodic and less challenging while losing none of the quirkiness and charm one finds within their music. Apparently, this was a deliberate approach on behalf of the band who felt that possibly they spent too long on their second release, due in no small part to setting up their own recording equipment which allowed them to spend as much time as they liked without worrying about cost or being kicked out of the studio.

Just four songs, but only one of these has the temerity to be less than 10 minutes in length (by three seconds), yet when one falls headlong into the world of Bubblemath time has no meaning, as all that exists is their creation. While there are times when I am reminded somewhat of the commerciality of some 90's American prog, for the most part we are firmly in the UK with bands from the 70's and 80's but being lifted into the modern day and taken in new directions. It is eccentric, but somehow with more prog mainstream sensibilities so it is a very album to get inside and quickly fall in love with. I was talking to a musician the other day about his latest track, and he soon stopped talking about that and had I heard the latest release by Bubblemath? His feeling is that their songwriting has improved by light years from what they were doing on the debut album, but as I have yet to hear that I cannot really comment, except for saying that this is yet another exceptional release.

There are multiple threads, multiple melodies, all taking place at the same time, and it is an album where the listener concentrates on just one of these and it is only then that the real complexity comes out. For example, the drumming on "Everything" is a masterclass on what can be done behind the kit when the drummer wants to be a true musician as opposed to "just" keeping time, with James never stopping and always changing the attack and approach, but the same is true for every musician on every song which makes this such a dynamic and interesting album to listen to. Let us hope they keep producing material according to the new equation, so if this album was released in just a third of the time of the last one, I think the next one should be due out in 20 months? Please?? For those who have yet to uncover the sheer delights of this incredible Minneapolis quintet, then the time is now.