Singles

From The Shards Of Comets! - 'Less Magic, More Mechanics

Liam McGrady 27/07/2006

Rating: 3/5

Far from being an original, experimental take on guitar based music, the Post-Rock genre has now, in some cases, become almost a pastiche of itself. Too many bands have taken the blueprint set by Mogwai and Slint, and to be honest, done bugger all but copy it wholesale. I think it would be fair to say that between them, From The Shards Of Comets! (with that name could they be anything other than Post-Rock?), have a few well worn copies of 'Spiderland' and 'Young Team'. And it's also fair to say that after hearing these records, they've contributed to the rising sale of Delay pedals post, erm, Post-Rock.

So as you probably assumed from the above paragraph, Nottingham's FTSOC! are hardly pushing boundaries here. 'Less Magic, More Mechanics' is built around a simple piano based melody - similar to Mogwai's recent 'Friend Of The Night' - from where delay laden guitars shoot off sky bound; and that trippy drumming, well, that's present and correct too. B-Side, 'Postcards To Nowhere' has some kind of NASA communication coverage filtering through the Explosions In The Sky-esque sounds - just in case you hadn't figured out that this is looking to the heavens style music; played with heads swaying and eyes fixed to the floor.

It's not that I don't like this record, because I really do; a lot. It's just that I've got hundreds of songs that both A and B-sides of this single pretty much just mimic. If you're a fan of this genre, buying 'Less Magic, More Mechanics' will be like purchasing another pair of black socks to go with the drawer full you've already got.

'Less Magic, More Mechanics' is released through Collateral Music on 7" (limited to 500 copies) on 31st July

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