The Strange Death Of Liberal England

Rock stars take note (yes, Bore-rell, pull up a chair): south coast maritime-fuzzies The Strange Death Of Liberal England don’t speak. Well, they speak, just not to their audience. Instead they leave the chiming elegance of their kaleidoscopic post-rock to do the gassing – or if they have something important to impart live they scribble it on cardboard. Honest, it’s charming. This, their debut LP, has plenty to say. See single ‘Oh Solitude’, a blubbery freak-out of bandstand drumming and stencilled xylophone which borrows the scientific ‘orchestral explosion technique’ from Broken Social Scene. Meanwhile, disheartening volcanic-rocker ‘God Damn Broke And Broken Hearted’ threatens to carve out a Guillemots or Mystery Jets-shaped canoe to paddle. If, like they suggest, Liberal England is lying in a ditch somewhere then this is one hellova mayday call. Mute magic.

Greg Cochrane

7 out of 10