The press release reads well enough: lush, elegant refined and intricate. Not words you could deny – but neither are they the only words you could use: bumptious, overbearing and conceited might perform equally as well. The Australian neo-psychedelic, The Church (they of late 1980’s hit, ‘Under the Milky Way’) whilst melodic and deliciously moody enough to draw comparison to anyone from U2, INXS and The Doors, and for all their artful and wizened experience fail to light my fire on this occasion.
It’s not without it’s charm: ‘Radiant 1934 remix’ will get repeated plays on my own brutally misused media player, as will ‘Stay All Night’ but much of Parallel Universe could be too easily equated with all that other verbose, densely-layered posturing of the late eighties: Arcadia, The Lover Speaks – you know what I’m talking about – they of the esoteric, black and white video-still (catholic girl in box with cup of marshmallows and rose between her teeth) and the absurdly lyrical bent (‘loose tears on a gaping void’ variety). Bonkers stuff – but interesting all the same.
A double-whammy mixture of alternate takes from their previous album, ‘After Everything Now’ and previously unreleased material, ‘Parallel Universe’ is indeed going to be a treat for old fans and collectors – but the ‘self-styled freedom’ occasionally gives way to immoderate indulgence; an indulgence that would, I can only presume, alienate most on their first listen.
Bit like Joy Division as fronted by that frightfully decent salty old sea-dog, Surly Le Bon: marvellous in parts but for the most part sinking.