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"Ekkies! Trips! Tickets to Oasis!" the scalper was yelling under his breath, a feat only those who don't want to attract too much attention can do. "Tickets to Oasis!"
I didn't need to read the bio that came this cd to know that The Reflectors are fans of Oasis. You can here their confident wall of pop throughout most of these tracks. But to be fair, you can also hear the Beatles, Bowie, Soundtrack Of Our Lives and our own Sidewinder. And they sound very good. And they know it too (according to their bio - more on that later!).
The Reflectors are from Melbourne and claim the six songs on their cd have "remarkable variety and breadth." Not so sure about the variety as it's only really the last two songs that stray from the fuzzed-up guitar rock.
The first, 'Colossomus', has all the hallmarks of an 'epic' - lots of backing vocals, those big, affected guitars, an Oasis middle 8 with sweet falsetto - but at only 2 minutes 53 seconds, it is a short epic, and that's what really makes the song. It would have dragged on if it was the expected 4- or 5 minutes long.
'Relaxed and Understood' has a great melody and overall feel with the vocals sounding a bit like Simon Day from Ratcat. It's another big sounding song. The next one 'Wild Delusions' is the one that conjured up the English scalper circa 1994. There's some cool guitar dangin' at the end of the song followed by a Bowie-esque vocal chorus that is absolutely fab. These boys know how to pack a lot into one song.
In my opinion, The Reflectors have saved the best until second last. 'Reality' has a slight country sound to it. It cruises along and makes me wish there was either more like this one or that the band had packed away some of the guitar pedals on the other tracks. They should have put this second. I nearly didn't get through the whole cd and it was this track that made me go back and listen to it all over again.
The final song 'Earlier Tonight' has been coated with a subtle layer of psychedelia. It starts out all floaty-dreamy and then there's a pause…more melancholia with the loveliest singing…it builds up…more guitars come in around 2 minutes…building…then BANG! At 3 minutes the song really takes off. It's the big set closer and finally The Reflectors proudly display the epic song you knew they had in them the whole time.
But there's one thing that really irks me. It's the bio. It's full of - well I don't know how to say this except in true Australian style - it's full of wanky descriptions of themselves and their songs. But hey let's not be too critical. They're just proud of what they have achieved. Maybe if we were in America where they don't seem to mind such self-confidence, but here we cut our tall poppies down and this bio won't win over the cool crowd. The music should though - it's exceptionally good, or as the bio says: "the Reflectors create interesting, heartfelt rock 'n' roll songs about the desperation that accompanies affluence, expectations and routine." And later: "In a time of infinite digital distraction and material pleasantries the Reflectors cut through the phenomena, letting out the sound of what we strive to keep hidden. What rock and roll should be: an experience and a release."
See what I mean? Some advice: just let the music speak for itself. - ND
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