The Crimea – Tragedy Rocks
Posted by AlMachine on Friday, October 21, 2005

A timely release for a band that John Peel featured in the top ten of his final festive fifty (2003); that early single ‘Baby Boom’ is featured here, along with nine other compositions that in many ways defy categorization; the band have flirted with pop, Americana and lo-fi.

Girl Just Died has a touch of ‘The Supernaturals’ about it, whilst there is a rawness and an honesty to ‘Losing My Hair’ that recalls moments of Elliott Smith.

There are moments when tracks like ‘Opposite Ends’ reminded me of a poppier version of Muse, a cinematically scaled tune, but more stripped back, and woven around a lighter tune. There’s a real texture to each of the songs, and the sonically spiked tunes help to give tracks like ‘Bad Vibrations’ their own individual groove, but it’s Davey McManus’s boyish, smooth vocal delivery which is unhurried and gives tracks an individual laid back feel.

There’s a jangly distortion to tracks like ‘Gazillions of Minature Violins’ that would invite comparisons to bands like ‘Mercury Rev’ and there’s a similar sense of mesmerization to many of the tracks. At times the mix feels a little chaotic, but it’s the diversity which also helps keeps things moving; there’s a certain twang and bombast to the record that gives it a human warmth.

Clearly John Peel wasn’t wrong. The Crimea are maturing nicely and should prove to be a good vintage for this year!

Greg Thomas



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