Spectres – 'Dying' review
While pointing out that Spectres wear their influences rather outwardly is no greater an observation than noting the Pope’s penchant for unconventional headgear, what makes the Bristol quartet’s debut album so engaging lies in spotting what they’ve done with what they’ve pilfered.
Accordingly, Where Flies Sleep is a Dinosaur Jr-style pummelling with Dirty-era Sonic Youth inflections, This Purgatory flashes the sinister tonality of BEAK>’s dirgy, driving Krautrock around its surprisingly radio-friendly hook, Lump lifts vocals straight from Spiritualized’s Come Together and the closing nine-minute epic Sea of Trees culminates, almost predictably, in a MBV-style “holocaust” of sustained white noise before reaching a drowsy, drained conclusion.
That’s not to say that Dying is merely a Spotter’s Guide for nerdy noise-guitar-act devotees though: plenty here revels wonderfully in its own industrial ugliness, full of ferocity and delicate texture that elevates it above simple homage. Indeed, for the most part, this is impressively doomy, monochrome stuff, equally helped and held back by the abundance of familiar flavours.
7/10
