SECONDSKIN - review added 19th March 2010
Album Review: Captive Audience (2010)
For fans of: Prog Rock... and sadness
Glasgow progressive rockers Secondskin have existed in various forms for nearly a decade. Previously signed to Rising Records, the band - Ian McCall on guitar and vocals, Sandy Wilson on guitar, Mark Elliott on drums and vocals, and Ali Walker on bass - are now with Union Black.
Captive Audience, the band's debut release, is a journey through soundscapes of torment portrayed in varying levels of rock, metal and alternative-pop. It's a very progressive album, created to appease aficionados more than casual fans. This is not an album built from catchy songs, big hooks and strong choruses, it's built from emotion, impressive technique and musical indulgence.
These guys are fine composers and superb musicians, but I find the end result hugely depressing in places. Captive Audience is riddled with sad sounds and negative lyrical jaunts. It's often like listening to a heavy metal philharmonic orchestra in the throes of death. However...'Spoonful' Of Sugar' has anthemic moments, as does 'Triggered Happy'...in fact most of the songs do. There's a definite wow factor throughout, but it normally finds itself buried beneath mountains of instrumental frippery. If the guys lost the experimental bent and went for more of a commercial edge they would make a killing; but of course that's not what they are about.
Some people would describe the music of Secondskin as deep and challenging. They are probably right. However, I've never been a subscriber to the head-up-ass approach to reviewing records. I'm more interested in gleaning enjoyment and emotional fulfillment from an album. If you love complex progressive rock and metal, and can cope with an overload of downbeat chord structures, I suggest you check this out. It's not for me, but it may well be for you. Sometimes music should be a challenge. Captive Audience proves that in spades.
Check out... Something more happy, or this if you fancy a challenge.
Track List:
01. If you knew...
02. Pawned life
03. Fashion victim
04. Captive audience
05. Spoonful of sugar
06. Triggered happy
07. Is this how far we’ve come?
08. Meanderthal
09. Among the mute majority
10. Capable of anything
11. HPID
12. ...what the river carries
Label: Union Black
Artist's website(s): MySpace
