It’s a mini album of six pieces of magical psychedelic sparkly dust. It is one that oozes class, and drips honeyed quality. When asked why it didn’t blossom into a fully grown album the duo replied that they wanted to ‘maintain high quality control and ensure that each song is fantastic’.
Well, the good news is that they have achieved precisely that. Opening with “She’s Taking Me Down”, The Chemistry Set, launch your unsuspecting ears into a musical trip through the colourful Rickenbacker land of Roger McGuinn of The Byrds. Suddenly, I am that stupid kid that was destined to play with crystals again.
It would be wrong to merely say that this transports you back to the sixties because it is also fresh, vibrant, and positively alive. Having said that, there is no doubt that sixties bands like The Byrds, The Beatles, and The Hollies knew how to write a catchy melody or two. Well somewhere along the line Paul Lake and Dave McLean have been busy soaking them up.
In fact, I have an image of them eating piles of vinyl literally ingesting the best of the best before rowing out to their island on the Thames to lay down music of this quality.
“Seeing Upside Down” has those jangly, chiming guitars to the fore again enriching another contagious hook. This is a musical rash, in the nicest possible way, suddenly you are literally covered in it. “Look To The Sky” captures the unique quirky Englishness of the late sixties psychedelia of the London scene. Syd Barrett lives on, thank God.
“If Rome Was Meant To Fall” opens as if McGuinn himself has been invited along. It’s another ultra cool, sparkly, chiming, and downright wonderful track.
“Silver Birch” arrives shrouded within a misty atmospheric veil. It is taken from a long lost Del Shannon album from 1968, The Further Adventures Of Charles Westover, (Shannon’s real name, I’m told). For this they add flutes, mellotrons, huge choral backings, and more gorgeous acoustic guitar. It’s simply stunning and has me raiding the dusty vinyl for Mr. Westover’s original.
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