Nineties influenced indie.
It seems like a long time since the first download only EP release, "Think Happy Thoughts" in 2004, but finally Seagull Strange release their debut full length album and happily there's a lot that's good about "Better Angels of our Nature". Overall, the album has a really old school nineties indie feel about it; very Gomez, the same kind of hooky but quirky tunes, like 'La La La Leu' with its fuzzy guitar sound, catchy little chorus and Dan Telling's husky, mature sounding vocals and the whole thing is topped off by a bitter sweetness that gets under your skin but manages to stay on the right side of melancholy - tracks like the outstanding 'Love and Death' manage this perfectly, with it's memorable tune that builds from gentle beginnings on sultry, echoey violin to end in an epic, spine tingling crescendo of tuneful fuzzy noise.
It's not all retro though, while it definitely has something that harks back, it somehow manages to stay relevant just as bands like The National have done with their nineties inspired melancholia. To its credit, this can be a hard record to pigeon-hole. While the album has some quite heavy riffs there is also a definite folk feel to the whole thing that pulls it into alt-rock territory; think R.E.M in their more introspective moments, and occasionally in the midst of the heavier tracks it's reminiscent of Pearl Jam (especially the vocals). Then again at times, seemingly out of the blue, they produce a danceable indie-disco track like 'Run Pig Run' or a full on electro tinged keyboard led foot stomping number like 'Adam Vs Eve' - the fact that this is followed with 'It's A Shame' which sounds like Neil Young at his best says it all – eclectic.
This is a record that starts slow but gets better with every track, once you get towards the last couple of tunes you'll want to go right back to the beginning and listen again, that is provided that you like what you hear, because it's definitely not a grower, it's one you'll either love or hate on first listen . The album's brilliance lies in the way the band has managed to use such a variety of styles yet still stamp their very distinctive sound on each track. The way that they do this so seamlessly, without you really noticing they've jumped genres is quite an achievement and makes this debut a very mature and accomplished sounding effort, one worth checking out.