The big catch-up 1: The Voices

First up in my catch-up is The Voices, hailing from Port Talbot in South Wales, whose new album The Sound of Young America was amongst a bunch of stuff I got from the fine Welsh label My Kung Fu. I’d never heard of them before, and this is actually their second album. Mind you, it’s certainly not lack of quality material that’s keeping them from the glare of national publicity.

It really is a very good album, even if it is one that wears its influences clearly on its sleeve for all to see (or hear?). This is a record very much in debt to early 90s shoegaze bands and their ilk. The sound of young America it certainly ain’t. So we have blissed-out ethereal loveliness conjuring up the spirits of Slowdive on You Shared a Smile I Thought Was True… That’s song’s follow-on companion …You Broke a Heart I Gave to You is pure Spiritualized and the next track Don’t Let Go is even more so. Like other Daily Growl faves The Early Years, they also have a bit of a Krautrock thing going on too – most evident in the album’s title track and on I See Dark Times Ahead, the b-side of their upcoming single.

So far, so derivative it seems. Well, it is, but that’s not damning with faint praise. Honestly, this album is as good as thing shoegaze-Krautrock thing gets. And that is pretty damn good. I think I might even like this album more than The Early Years' self-titled debut, which I raved about quite a bit last year. If you like your wall of noise warm, melodic and shimmering, with a slight dash of femininity, this album is for you.

I wonder if they’re as good live as I hope they would be. Unfortunately chances to see them if you live outside of Cardiff are looking slim at the moment. Maybe soon…

Download: The Voices – Love
Download: The Voices - …You Broke a Heart I Gave to You
Download: The Voices – I See Dark Times Ahead

Buy The Sound of Young America.