Epic is back. In fact listening
to Redjetson and Youth Movie Soundtrack Strategies create one great
sonic layer cake of a song after another, makes you wonder how anyone every fit
their emotions into three-and-a-half minutes. In Redjetson lurks
a grand, inspiring plan which transcends lazy Mogwai/Radiohead comparisons
and will soon place them as tribal leaders of an emerging group of bands not afraid
of casting pop/rock conventions aside and forging a majestic, ethereal soundscape
of their own. Starting as they mean to go on, opener ‘A Reptile Cold Blood’ sees
guitarists Dan Carney, Daniel Hills, Ian Jarrold and Grant Taylor (bass) strike
out on a pulsating, rhythmic journey to some distant Aboriginal horizon and not
returning for nigh on seven minutes. Clive Kentish is their leader, vying with
the militaristic crash and roll of drummer Joel Hussey to propel the whole thing
forward with mournful, yearning vocals – he looks like the saddest soul alive.
And also Earl Spencer…which is strangely appropriate, as Redjetson could be the
more articulate, yet equally intense older brother to Hope of the States’ wide-eyed,
highly-strung Sam Herlihy. If Redjetson scale an art-rock wall of dizzying
heights, then Youth Movie Soundtrack Strategies are the tangled, bewildering
fall back down the other side. Employing something more like the frenetic guitar
craziness of ThisGIRL with the FX pedal of serious experimentalists, theirs
is the sound of youthful exuberance to Redjetsons’ ancestral maturity – still
dark, but peppered with precision feedback and playground chants. It’s a listening
challenge, but when Redjetson climb on stage and plug in their guitars – count
them, SIX guitarists in full swing – for the closing track it’s about all we the
audience (and the Soundhaus’ PA system) can take. Lots of sound. Lots of
volume. Lots of emotion. Epic is back – make room for it in your life. Photo
by Paul Gore Relevant sites:
htp://www.redjetson.co.uk/
Natasha House for Crud Magazine 2004©
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