THE FUTURE KINGS OF ENGLAND

A very good Post Rock album that ranks right up with the best I've heard from this sub-genre . . . but can't quite earn a 5 star "masterpiece" rating cuz of the fact that the boys stick fairly closely to the standard format?with very few real innovations other than sounds and multiple guitar layers on "October Moth."

Oops! this isn't Post rock?!!

Oh well. Favorites:

"10:66" (8/10) opens with a Frippertronic/"infinite guitar" note (kind of like Fripp did on Sylvian's "Wave") and is then joined by the full band. A mysterious interlude spoken vocal is in a Slavic language?which all but negates its effectiveness but is followed by guitar arpeggios from the opening section and background violin noodling. The song crescendos in a rather violent almost punk- like sound with 'hoodlum' type voices running off in the background.

"Humber Doucy Lane" (7/10)opens with some very old-style "Rising Sun" electric guitar arpeggios with full ANIMALS sound in the accompanying band?at least, that is, until the 3:40 mark when there is a shift to some slow chord strums tying a different set of arpeggios together. Then at 4:45 we're suddenly thrown onto some reverbe/echo guitar picking on the playgrounds from the end of Pat & Lyle's "As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls." Obviously the lane referred to in the song title means something to these blokes. Mellotron and bells play out in a French film score way to end.

"Silent and Invisible Converts" (8/10) stars with some pretty straightforward rock'n'roll descending electric guitar chords?which then transform into the same chords being arpeggios with 'flute' accompaniment. Until 1:40 when a new set of three chords are again ominously strummed as bass and cymbols keep exact time (almost Who-like!) The tempo picks up, slowly building, faster and faster, until some very crazed space guitar effects and "ahh's" join and accompany the band to about 5:40 when most instruments cut out leaving only the screaming space guitar and rolling bass?then for a minute just bass before some U2/EDGE- like guitar chords scream out over an old organ?to a Who ending!

"October Moth" (9/10) is a much more laid-back floating-type of song?acoustic guitars picking in both the left and right channels while distorted and space guitars also play. Very unusual and cool song.

"Lilly Lockwood" (8/10) is an eery song that reminds me of a melange between THE BEATLES at their most eery and U2's first two album guitar sounds and GENESIS' "The Waiting Room." (What a combo!)

This is also my favorite album overall from TFKoE--though I very much enjoy their 2011 release, "Who Is This Who Is Coming?"