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| Now here's an ugly word: Prog. It used to mean Progressive Rock: music that pushes boundaries and opens doors for others to follow. But it also means the dreck you find on records by Gentle Giant and King Crimson, creaking under the weight of organ solos, portentous lyrics and songs arranged into suites. Comets On Fire are flying the flags for both schools of Prog, reaching out into the stratosphere with one hand while rifling through their Dad's vinyl collection with the other. |
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Avatar's predecessor, 2004's Blue Cathedral, was a masterpiece of semi-sculpted noise, a record that married early Pink Floyd's LSD trips with the Stooges' right hooks, all wrapped in Echoplex and distorted to buggery. Sure, it had echoes of the past but it moved too fast to be pinned down under the "retro" tombstone.
Fast-forward to 2006 and a few things have changed. The Flaming Lips have put out an album that sounds like Yes remixed by Prince, Mars Volta sell more T-shirts than Che Guevara and Sigur Ros are chart superstars (they totally sing in a made-up language, dude!). Prog's the dog's, basically, and pretentious nonsense is flying off the shelves. So it should be Comets On Fire's time to strike.
Sadly, Avatar isn't the album to strike with. The production is so flat and cold you could play ice hockey on it. It's fine to be inspired by the lo-fi charm of Blue Cheer albums recorded in 1968, but there's no excuse for Tim "Fucking Champs guitarist" Green's weak production replicating it in 2006. Especially considering how badass the Champs always sound. Avatar's biggest surprise is that it contains songs. Real ones, with verses and choruses. One of them, ‘Lucifer's Memory’, could almost be The Eagles or Lynyrd Skynyrd. This change in direction wouldn't be so jarring if these quieter songs were as affecting as Blue Cathedral's delicate instrumentals, or if we cared what Ethan Miller was singing about. But the lyrics and melodies never quite take off, instead serving as a reminder that Miller's better suited to incoherent howling.
The Comets' trademark eye-popping guitar freakouts are still present, but here they're often relegated to a supporting role. One of the best is the outro to ‘Dogwood Rust’: based around a hypnotic bass and drum motif, it swirls skywards for a good five minutes, tainted only by the fact that it's been lifted almost note-for-note from Blue Cathedral's ‘Death Squad’. But who cares? Comets On Fire are still masters of their craft. Another highlight is ‘Holy Teeth’. At under three minutes, it's a Pandora's box of vicious psychedelic noise and - thanks Ethan! - wonderfully incoherent howling. But the album's real standout is ‘Sour Smoke’, a spooky, stoned marathon of tribal rhythms, duelling guitars and the odd bit of chanting. For once, the muddy production gives the band the air of forbidding that they've been searching for, and Avatar finally achieves lift-off. |
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| Mat Croft - 6/10 |
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