(album/ TRANSCOPIC RECORDS)
This is no ordinary debut album. First of all, South Londoners Mower (who�ve toured with both British Sea Power and Jet to stupendous acclaim) aren�t ones for greedy compromise and truly deliver a value-for-money tour de force with an LP 12 tracks and 50 minutes long. Secondly - and most importantly - the tracks therein are, simply, both life affirming and generation-defining.
Frontman Matt Motte is a songwriting genius, with his 2 most anthemic cuts (which were both, by no coincidence, released as singles) in �After Dark� and �The Morning After� opening one of the most extraordinary debut albums from such a young UK band that I�ve ever heard in my lifetime. Even the track ordering is persuasively perfect, because straight after the hedonism of the first two tracks, the introspective and acoustic-based rehabilitation of �Then The Drugs Came Out To Play� is proof enough that Matt is well-aware of both the highs and lows of a rockstar�s life in the fast lane. Who knows if this song is semi-autobiographical or not� however true to his life it is or it isn�t, the poignancy weeps for all to weep along to with its subtle desert island harmony.
One of our hardest-touring bands and clearly one of our most talented, Mower have an incredible knack for flitting between intense rock �n� roll punk-throttles and surprisingly well-observed acoustic breaks from such loud electric guitar jack-knifes.
�Cruel Nature� hears Motte�s voice raging to rasping and deadly raw extremes. Similarly, �No Right To Reason� and �Wake Up Mower� are the spikiest of kick-ass anthems.
Away from such volatile hyper-energy, there�s still time and opportunity for charming tweeness in �No one Is Royalty� (��not even royalty) which is perfect, acoustic-rooted pop-eccentricity that reminds of The Supernaturals and Richard 1, before �Rest In Peace� (�Sleep is what I need�) retains the acoustic pop angle - despite its self-pitying reproach.
�Dark Clouds� hears Matt�s singing voice sounding like Ron Sexsmith's, while the frequent comparisons that are made from Mower to The Kinks gush forth during Sun Sun Sun�s high-beam chorus.
An offering of all-encompassing emotions in both their rawest and sweetest forms, this album alone may make you believe that truly passionate and wickedly confrontational cross-generic bands really do exist � and Mower, on account of �People Are Cruel,� are careering so far and so fast ahead of their peers it�s time we got up to speed. And supported Mower for all the obvious reasons as outlined above.
Release date: 4th August 2003
10/10 (STEVE RUDD)
www.transcopic.com