Artist: Amusement Parks On Fire
Label: V2
Release: 2006
When the talk turns to British outfit Amusement Parks On Fire, you can’t skip over Michael Feerick, a kind of wunderkind in the (almost) literal sense of the word. He’s only just stepped into the second decade of his life, yet he already has two studio albums behind him, a pretty successful tour of the old continent, the US and even Japan, and obviously quite a few fans too.
The band’s self-titled debut, released in 2005 on Invada, was basically a solo effort by the then-teenage musician. Only Daniel Knowles, today a full-fledged member of the band, helped out with production and playing some of the instruments.
By Michael’s own words, that album was recorded on the cheap, and the sound was supposedly to match. Still, the songs were supposedly pretty decent, so the word had to get out and as many people as possible had to hear them. That meant moving up to a bigger label and finding some like-minded, or rather like-feeling, musicians who could carry this music to the widest possible crowds. The new lineup, besides the aforementioned Michael Feerick on vocals and guitar and Daniel Knowles, also on guitar, includes Peter Dale on drums and Gavin Poole on bass (who replaced Jez Cox), with Joe Hardy joining on keyboards.
“Out Of Angeles” is thus the first real band album. A band album only on the outside, though, since the lineup loyally follows the musical vision born in Feerick’s head. He pours his artistic streak mostly into the foundations laid by Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine, but his music never really slips the leash the way those two bands did, more than successfully. Instead it sticks to the tried-and-tested formula of noise propped up by synthetic orchestral touches.
The reason for these longer, almost meditative orchestral passages may lie in the fact that “Out Of Angeles” was recorded in Reykjavik, in the studio of their “acquaintances” Sigur Ros, who have been dabbling in similar stuff for quite a while now.
Despite all the different influences Amusement Parks On Fire were exposed to while shaping the new songs, the tracks are often too samey and rather monotonous. On top of that, the songs feel a bit directionless, so they tend to drift into overlong, aimless wanders that are mostly just tiring. The band will probably try to plug that gap with a marketing move, namely a series of limited-edition singles. The first one, already representing the album, is In Flight (V2), and others should follow soon.
Their label (V2) is promising an even brighter future with this album, which is entirely possible with this kind of music, since its biggest potential lies with a younger crowd. But for now, (at least), there’s still too much smoke and not enough fire!
Lineup
Michael Feerick – Guitar, vocals
Daniel Knowles – Guitar
Peter Dale – Drums
Gavin Poole – Bass
Joe Hardy – Keyboards
Production
John Sampson & Amusement Parks On Fire
Tracklist
01. Out Of Angeles
02. A Star Is Born
03. At Last The Night
04. In Flight
05. To The Shade
06. So Mote It Be
07. Blackout
08. Await Lightning
09. No Lite No Sound
10. Cut To Future Shock
Album length: 66.01
