Skittering, powerful indie
The Duke Spirit filled one of the upcoming bands of 2005 holes with ease and grace as their debut album (also called Cuts Across The Land) stormed indie clubs everywhere, this single is certainly a fair representation of the amount of damage Duke Spirit can inflict upon the music scene. Singer Liela's voice expels spellbinding kookiness across the pounding, off-kilter rhythm section that rips through your stereo with its swaggering pace. Fresh and full of big, sexy hooks, it's certainly not a tune to be sniffed at, although somehow the promo copy of the CD has decided it think it's five hours long and the two tracks: the crisp Michael Brauer remix and the album version of the track have melded into one long anthem, which does make it seem a little repetitive as there's no real peak or pinnacle in the song, but then who wouldn't want to hear as much of this charismatic song as possible?
'Cuts Across The Land' may not brew quite the same malevolent dissatisfaction as some of the band's other tracks, but it bristles with gritty pop, raging guitars and twinkling tambourine. Much as I love The Duke Spirit's sound, I can't help but feel this isn't the kind of track that's going to wow new listeners, more of an album filler that eases one into the band's addictive style.