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4 out of 10
With a fairly silly name and a front cover wanting to compete with Death Magnetic for 'most semi-vaginal album cover of 2008', things don't look too good for Cambridge's Fuzzy Lights and their debut long-player, A Distant Voice. Far from stunning the audience with lush ambience or tickling the heart to tears, the first few tracks seem to be in search of a late-night documentary on racoons, with stabs at a drony-Dirty 3 here and a Mogwai-lite there. Eastern Winds begins like Zep's In The Evening before taking off for nowhere with Flying Saucer Attack. Reflective Surfaces sounds suspiciously like the band tuning up, before a light seems to go on and things end with a bit of interesting guitar / violin interplay.
Colour of the Sun is the most conventional-souding track, as Fairport Convention, stoned out of their tiny little minds, enter the studio with Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat (it seems). 'Moffat' again moans away on Safe Place and almost spoils what is the best track on the album, with the band somehow pulling their windswept selves together to create something which, while perhaps not mountainous, at least hints at the foothills of something much larger. The album ends, however, with more tuning-up, some indie-folk jingle and Mogwai on cider. I think the 'Lights are going for too broad a musical canvas with this album - a prairie, while beautiful, can seem a bit dull if you look at it for too long.
Listen: www.myspace.com/fuzzylights
Tracklist:
1. Blackout II
2. Capturing Shadows
3. Eastern Winds
4. Reflective Surfaces
5. Colour of the Sun
6. Safe Place
7. Bells Chiming In An Empty House
8. Something To Do With Light
9. (When We Reached The) Mountain Top
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