IT LEADS TO THIS

One of the staples of modern British prog, at least on the more melodic side of things, THE PINEAPPLE THIEF dates back to the turn of the millennium and is actually celebrating its 25th anniversary as a band in 2024 and just like the similarly styled Porcupine Tree who both happen to share drummer Gavin Harrison since 2016, founder / vocalist / guitarist / keyboardist Bruce Soord never expected for the band to experience such longevity. But here it is, 2024 indeed and THE PINEAPPLE THIEF is releasing its 16th album IT LEADS TO THIS featuring its usual set of alternative rock mixed with proggy art rock.

IT LEADS TO THIS hasn't found the band reinventing itself into a technical death metal band or a Tuvan throat singing band or anything of the sort. On the contrary, this newest release finds the band basically returning to form with a set of eight catchy well crafted songs that take up a running time of just under 41 minutes. There also exists a CD boxset version that includes a bonus disc titled "Y Aqui Estamos" which features seven alternate versions of the tracks found on the main album release. I always pass on these unless the album is some sort of masterpiece of the ages that i can't get enough of.

One of the more commercial bands in the world of prog, IT LEADS TO THIS doesn't even really sound like prog that much at all really. Fortified by instantly catchy hooks, traditional alternative rock compositional styles, easily digestible poetic lyrics and in the last several years, a clear race to be the next Porcupine Tree as heard with Soord's Steven Wilson mopey singing style, the similar atmospheric elements and the alternating mellow neo-psychedelic cadences with the heavier guitar oriented alternative rock bits. As far as the progressive rock creds are concerned, there aren't many to be heard on IT LEADS TO THIS as the tracks are all on the shorter side with none extending past six minutes and no surprises especially in time signature deviations to be heard.

Nevertheless the album delivers nicely performed and recoded tracks for what it does. From the mellow mope of "Put It Right" to the ambient introduced "Now It's Yours," the band is all about generating moods and atmospheres rather than winning Olympic medals for technical wizardry. While that's all fine and dandy, the album is mostly set to the easy listening side of the prog universe, so much so that it rarely finds enough of those excitable moments when the alternative rock explodes into a frenzy of crescendoing thundering roar. And even when the rock parts are allowed off their tightly held leash the band never really lets loose. Gavin Harrison is touted as one of the greatest drummers of the modern age with gigs in not only Porcupine Tree but truly demanding acts like Dizrhythmia or King Crimson but on IT LEADS TO THIS he is woefully forbidden to cut loose.

THE PINEAPPLE THIEF has never really been my bailiwick as i tend not to follow these bands that pander to pop audiences that want to claim they're into progressive rock. Add to that i've never been keen for bands jumping on the Porcupine Tree copycat bandwagon as i've found none of them to come even close to the magnanimous heights of Steven Wilson's baby but that doesn't stop many from trying. It just doesn't seem to work outside of the original PT context. This is basically pop rock with a slight alternative edge and pseudo-prog creds mainly because of the atmospheres.

It's a pleasant enough album as the music is totally listenable but a bit too predictable and squeaky clean for my liking. In a genre that used to "progress" and undergoing unthinkable evolution (just look at the years from 1969 to 1974), there are pockets of the prog fringes that are all about milking it for all it's worth. There's a reason bands like Black Midi are the newest rage because they PROGRESSED! This just sounds like it's stuck in a time warp and can't get out. Decent but not anything i get excited about. Obviously there's an audience for this stuff or THE PINEAPPLE THIEF wouldn't be around all these years but what really surprises me is how easily fans will accept a stylistic approach that is so close to another pioneer and musically almost identical.