{"id":5992,"date":"2014-02-26T13:18:49","date_gmt":"2014-02-26T13:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/?p=5992"},"modified":"2014-02-26T16:50:00","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T16:50:00","slug":"sproutless-reviewed-by-scenester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/sproutless-reviewed-by-scenester\/","title":{"rendered":"Sproutless reviewed by Scenester"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"moveable_feast\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Moveable Feast<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s not often that a CD turns up on my doorstep, packed with the most perfectly manicured pop and acutely observed homages to an old favourite band, so you can imagine my surprise when two arrived at once. The virtually identical covers, a pristine, polished British motorcycle against a faded wooden garage door, give only a hint as to the aural delights inside, an enigma the wistful, classic song titles on their reverse do nothing to enlighten.<\/p>\n

Feed the motorbike-wheel picture CD into the drawer, and there\u2019s no mystery to plumb any more. From the opening track on \u2018Moveable Feast\u2019, \u2018Big Nostalgia\u2019s gentle keyboard, bird-like clicks and chirrups and girl-cooing, and you know you\u2019re back in that dreamy landscape inhabited by the object of this homage, County Durham\u2019s long-lived Prefab Sprout. So close as almost to be the real thing, a loose conglomeration of musicians take us through what can only have been a massive labour of love for them. The sheer sweetness of \u2018Signs of a Life Worth living\u2019 is enough to induce a sugar coma, but soon tempered by the pleading regret of \u2018The Man You Fell in Love With\u2019.<\/p>\n

The characteristic soft whispering style of this essentially nostalgic band is perhaps evoked most effectively in \u2018High Shadow Skies\u2019, with an irresistible pause on the harmonies that will keep you rooted to the spot. \u2018Turn up the music\u2019s wandering sax and dreamy melody will have the 80\u2019s fetishists among you gagging for more, but this is a gentle imprecation to turn it up, not the funk stomp the title might suggest. The 80\u2019s motif continues in the rolling \u2018Forever and Never (The Genesis of Eden)\u2019, with its \u2018tide in\/tide out\u2019 synth breaks and hesitant drumming offering support.<\/p>\n

A little bitterness is called for here, and \u2018Don\u2019t Tell Me Twice\u2019 fills the bill, its arpeggio guitars leading into a rocker with a voice break and a three-step rhythm. \u2018Give The Farm Away\u2019s fleeting romantic interlude has a little hint of discord in amongst the pleasant \u2018harbour at twilight\u2019 atmosphere. \u2018The Night I Murdered Love\u2019 has a Spanish feel to the best guitar part yet, and a good, winding lyric. \u2018When the Sky Crashes Down\u2019 takes the mood floor ward even further, a slow crawl of a song, but with those sweet harmonies to relieve the mood.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Queen of Hope\u2019 takes us into more upbeat territory, with its satisfying changes of pace and twangy, sighing guitars, and \u2018P.S. I Love You\u2019s racy synth fills and hard beat provides an unexpected closer, to a CD otherwise erring on the side of sweetness.<\/p>\n

\"insights_from_retrospect\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Insights from Retrospect<\/h3>\n

\u2018Insights from Retrospect\u2019 hits the ground running with \u2018Bliss\u2019, a gem-like James Bond theme of an opening track, with a languorous voice and a winding, refreshingly uncomplicated tune. \u2018Love Junkie\u2019s challenging title belies a gentle, piano-backed tune, with more \u2018do be do\u2019s than most bands would dare, in the background. \u2018Wanderlust\u2019s harp-like piano work and sweet voice is another confection that might prove a bit too cloying for most tastes. \u2018Hannah, Are You Out There\u2019s lusher; much improved love paean will make you forgive it the artificial sounding strings and piano.<\/p>\n

\u2018Spirit Us Away\u2019 is the moment the CD gets into its stride, a \u2018getting away\u2019 song that expresses itself succinctly and without digression, but for the cooing \u201939 Steps\u2019 that follows. \u2018Fast Ships and Supernovas\u2019 is back on track, with a good, bouncy beat, and \u2018Finally September\u2019s pizzicato strings, driving drum beat and riffing guitars finally give us what we\u2019ve been waiting for. The chorus might be a little underdeveloped, but who cares when you\u2019ve got a mover?<\/p>\n

\u2018Charm Offensive\u2019 is either a McAloon original, or they\u2019ve got the Geordie legend holed up in an attic somewhere, a suitably witty and good natured song. \u2019Fall\u2019s romantic piano is heavy on optimism, and, leading appropriately into \u2018Love\u2019, a swinging rhythm pattern with classic lyrics. Mention a zip code and you know you\u2019ve pushed your audience\u2019s buttons.<\/p>\n

\u2018God\u2019s Country\u2019s acoustic guitar takes us down again to the CD\u2019s closer, \u2018Coming Home\u2019 a spacey, atmospheric John Martyn style piece that leaves you lazy and very peaceful.<\/p>\n

This group of Sprout aficionados have done their damnedest to evoke the revered late 20th<\/sup>\u00a0Century band to audible appearance, and so it only remains to be seen if their work will either bear fruit, or provoke the original model to action.
\nBUY HERE!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not often that a CD turns up on my doorstep, packed with the most perfectly manicured pop and acutely observed homages to an old favourite band, so you can imagine my surprise when two arrived at once. The virtually identical covers, a pristine, polished British motorcycle against a faded wooden garage door, give only a hint as to the aural delights inside, an enigma the wistful, classic song titles on their reverse do nothing to enlighten.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128,71,87,74],"tags":[121,305,942],"series":[],"class_list":["post-5992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-plugs","category-music","category-pop","category-reviews","tag-eyeplug","tag-scenester","tag-sproutless"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5992"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6009,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992\/revisions\/6009"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5992"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=5992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}