137 [AKA: ONE THREE SEVEN]

'Abducting The Unicorn' was received so well that Bruce Soord decided to record another album by his side-project (he is of course a main member of Vulgar Unicorn), and I for one am very glad that he did. There has been a large use of classic keyboards, and this has added to the ambience but this is very much an album that uses influences from the Nineties as opposed to the Seventies. While there are elements from Porcupine Tree and Radiohead, there are also more commercial touches. Imagine if you will a song that takes elements from the above two bands and puts it together with Manic Street Preachers, and you may get some idea of what "Incubate" is like. The song is only 3½ minutes long, get this released as a single, it's great!!

While very much a grower this album also has immediate appeal, and when the band brings Hendrix-style guitar together with Thom Yorke influences on "Doppler" the result is a song that will have many prog fans baying for more. As in Bruce's work with VU this is an album that brings together many different styles in a way that is cognisant of them but also very much in an area of their own.The debut album may have made 137 in the DPRP Chart of 2000 but I am sure that this one will finish far higher.

Originally appeared in Feedback #69, Aug 02