The eponymous second album from I Am Kloot follows in a long line of dark Mancunian bands (Magazine, The Fall, Joy Division, to some extent the Smiths, Doves) with this very '60s influenced set.

"Filmic" and "epic" are words that often come to mind when listening to this record, particularly the ballads that form the core. If Morrissey's lyrics often read like the script of a Northern "kitchen sink" drama (there are many "borrows", especially from "A Taste of Honey"), I Am Kloot's music often sounds like the soundtrack.

Like good films, songwriter Johnny Bramwell's best tracks here create their own hermetic worlds, worlds of dense, evocative, often darkly humerous imagery and spare but beautiful arrangements. There's a quality in Bramwell's voice that superficially resembles Liam Gallagher's, but this is a human and fallible voice, with none of Gallagher's swagger or idiot savant virtuousity. Bramwell's phrasing (check out "From You Favourite Sky") is also masterly.

The heart of this record, which had its US release late last year - more than 12 months after its original UK appearance, is it's beautiful ballads, including the the previously mentioned "From Your Favourite Sky", "Mermaids", "Not a Reasonable Man", "The Same Deep Water as Me" (reminiscent of "Ocean Rain" period Bunnymen) and my personal favourite, "Proof".

The more "up" songs are by no means weak: the album opener, twisted cha cha "Untitled #1", is a wonderful, wistfully funny song. "Cuckoo" is almost a foray into Doves territory, and "3 Feet Tall" is more twisted latin rhythms wrapped around Stones guitar and some amazing lyrics: "Loneliness, it's got your name and your new address, When it walks in the place is a mess, And it drinks and never leaves".

This is however a record at its best when it's shining a light in the darker corner (9/10) (0) Comments