Flies - All Too Human (Album)
Atmosphere is a concept that can divide bands in to two separate camps. Those that who spend countless hours of detail trying to create it and those who couldn't give a fuck. It is the latter group that usually come up trumps, trusting in their own ability and not falling into pretentious traps of the perfectionists who can fall flat on their smug faces. The Flies are somewhere in-between. They clearly know what they want to sound like but it just happens naturally.
The two buzz words here are sex and soul. The opening tracks triumph emphatically in their objective despite the potentially embarrassing titles. 'Walking on the Sand' with largely just a bass-line and some light percussion for company, sounds minimal and sparse but is warmly sexy at the same time, gently inviting you down to the beach for god knows what. The exotica continues on 'The Temptress' conjuring up a hot Arabian night with a hypnotic rhythm and melody that sounds remarkably like Muse but with a full bottle of Viagra. This comparison becomes unavoidable within 'Bitter Moon's eerie piano and breathy Matt Bellamy style vocals. Building to a mournful, glammy ballad finish it's a delight to the ears.
By the time 'High' kicks in its clear that The Flies wear their influences on their sleeves. More Primal Scream than Primal Scream themselves, its every note and word is painfully predictable. Depressingly unoriginal, it's filler if I ever heard it and taints the good work of the first three songs terribly. Chosen as a single for its obvious commercial appeal its does not represent the album or band at all.
Thankfully, cello-laden 'Chills' resumes my faith. "I took her broken bones/from her broken home/turned her into dust/in my pursuit of lust" whispers a guilty conscience over a piercingly haunting acoustic guitar. It is the album's finest moment but I suggest skipping it if you are using the Flies to entertain a guest...(ahem). Back in the game, the liberal percussion and heavy eastern influence mix with James Bond strings on 'My Pleasure' "my sexual obsession waits only for me". Fellow Bristolians Portishead and Massive Attack are brought to mind but minus the glorious sense of foreboding.
More than half way through without breaking a sweat, The Flies are in danger of drowning in their own musk, as songs like 'The Elements' and title track 'All too Human' pass by without registering. 'No Shame' sounds like Muse covering 'The Masterplan' and is much better, especially the spine tingling harmonica. Similarly 'We Began' owes a lot to the epic blues of Spiritualized, but like many of the songs fades out all too soon, no doubt at the hand of some bloody sober producer.
The best here is definitely to be found on the more reflective, piano led outings which stand out in their gin-soaked honesty whereas the lusty, opium-through-a hookah numbers are a bit hit and miss. Nonetheless the occasionally masterful arrangements and smokey production (provided by local production wizards The Insects) steal the show and the album evokes a feeling and an atmosphere of 'cool' sadly missing from a lot of bands who try to capture it so desperately.