I’m not quite sure how I find myself in the position to review this. A promo CD was sent to me by a new Leeds-based record company called Dance To The Radio. This is the first single they’ve released on the new imprint, and they were kind enough to send it to me (thanks for sending it on CD, boys; I don’t have access to a record player right now.) Still, a bit strange, because I don’t remember any previous contact with anyone involved in this. Also, it was mailed to my old address, the family homestead, yet it somehow reached me at my new address. Well I thought it was strange.

Anyway, to the review. This split from ¡Forward, Russia! and This Et Al, which goes on limited released today (that’s April 4th) showcases two bands that show a deep appreciation for noise, but choose to use it in different ways. ¡Forward, Russia! have already been mentioned in NME, but I can’t hold that against them, sounding as they do, like a musical train wreck. That’s really how it feels at times during their track Nine, a ridiculous mish mash of twists and turns. At this point I’d usually say it’s all held together by something, but it’s not. During the chorus I just kept waiting for it to fall apart, and was shocked when they actually managed to get to the end of the song. Considering their first ever gig was only a year ago, you could say it’s inexperience, but anyone who hears this screeching, funky mess will know right away that they mean to sound like this, and more importantly, they’re very good at it.

The song kept reminding me of another band I’d heard, to the point where I had to go and look for the CD I’d heard them on (it was Q And Not U, by the way. Appropriately enough, the song was “Nine Things Everybody Knows.”) The bass is decidedly funky; you can hear the metal of the guitar strings every time they’re plucked, and as for lead singer Tom’s voice… “frantic” comes to mind, the shouting behind him not helping to console me at all. I expect nothing less from a band that’s played with both The Futureheads and Blood Brothers, showing a wide appeal, or a total disregard for boundaries.

This Et Al manage to appear a little calmer while still providing a rather grandiose sound. It can seem quite overwhelming as it knocks you into and out of a very comfortable groove. While most bands want to lift you up or get you moving, This Et Al seem to have the opposite agenda: they want to force you down, so you have no choice but to give yourself up to their music. From the first second He Shoots Presidents is loud, epic, and you find yourself enraptured to the noise, which has the power to be both highly melodic and rather aggressive.

It’s also far too short. OK, it’s about 2:44, which is the average time for a single, but I was happy to listen to it all night. They reach a big powerful crescendo and then… that’s it. It ends, and leaves you not just wanting but demanding more. Good work.   With a limited run of only 500 copies, it’s hard to know whether you’ll find this, but wouldn’t it be really great if all 500 were bought this week and it actually made a little dent somewhere in the charts? Hey, five hundred’s a lot in this day and age. With any luck Dance To The Radio will be bombarded with e-mails demanding more copies. I sure hope so, because from the evidence of this ¡Forward, Russia! and This Et Al are destined to make waves. Just two more reasons to feel optimistic about new music.

Picture from www.dancetotheradio.com

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