HALF WAY HOME

Still known as The DeeExpus Project at this point, DeeExpus' first album Half Way Home finds the gang angling for a place amongst the UK's new prog innovators. It's clear that the band all have a deep affection for the scene when they include here a song like PTtee, which is a song about going to a Porcupine Tree concert and how ace Steven Wilson and his band are, and there's definitely a Stupid Dream/Lightbulb Sun-era Porcupine Tree influence at work here. Still, the band are capable enough that these occasional acts of homage don't descend into pastiche, and the album as a whole is a fun listen.