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The Open could be one of the most representative
amalgamations of popular guitar music around today.
They could be a figment of your imagination. They seem
too honed, too perfectly moulded to be completely true,
but not so much so that they could be of somebody else’s
design. They’re an exploration of the highs and a guided
tour of the lows. And they steal your attention away
when you were sure they were an easy bet, you had your
eye on them and the catch done up tight.
They’ve got their 80s indie badges sewn fast to their
sleeves, like they would have got through the door without
them right at the moment – though at the same time it
would probably be a disservice to claim they wouldn’t
have got in at all otherwise. They got them, incidentally,
for services to the sharp end of The Cure and the deep
end of Echo & The Bunnymen. Credentials which are clear
from the off with opening double ‘Bring Me Down’ and
the single ‘Close My Eyes’, made all the more vivid
thanks to the spinning of The Cure’s sparse early classic
‘A Forest’ minutes before – a telling segue.
But what really defines them is a greater affinity
with higher altitudes, and a strong desire to attain
them. Baby-faced frontman Steven Bayley – cute ruffled
hair and moody camera-seducing visage – has a staggering
gift of a voice, timeless in its grace and expansive
in its reach. There are probably Alpine peaks that lost
their freshest layer of snow tonight. And guitarist
Jon Winter specialises in stormy, lightning bolt guitar
breaks, his clear desired emulation of Jonny Greenwood
going as far as becoming his stunt double in silhouette,
and growing a tribute fringe for when the lights are
up.
This is a band made for protective, excessive dry ice
overspills and singular bright lights. But when the
lights do come up there’s half a problem in that there
are no battle scars, they don’t actually look weathered
or beaten. Everything else – the mystical bruised ambience,
the shadowy depths hinted at by some devastating Verve-esque
bass-lines – tells you to expect visual scars. Such
a smooth exterior lets them down there. But when they’re
so adept at conveying emotional incisions, maybe we
can take their word for it. If only they could capture
this aura credibly on record, and though they got closer
on their second single they still haven’t, then we would
probably buy it whole in a second.
Relevant sites:
http://www.theopenmusic.com
James Berry for Crud Magazine 2004©
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