Album Review

One More Grain – Isle Of Grain

• 12th Feb 2008

If a Doors, Talking Heads and Ivor Cutler inspired Mark E Smith or Paul Morley ever fronted Can, then this is what you could expect to hear. One More Grain (OMG) also do for the trumpet what John Cale does for the viola, which of course is fantastic! Yes the cacophony becomes predictable and repetitive as it goes on, but still, it’s all good. Just manages to vary in slinkiness and sassiness enough to succeed as it introduces moments from freestyle jazz fuelled freak-outs, tuning sessions, bus station piss ups and RUN DMCs ‘Christmas in Hollis’ as heard through the ears of any Benzedrine dependent narcoleptic.

Is it enough to get excited about? Ian Rankin (that massive name in music production) thinks so. Zane Lowe thinks so (though that’s saying nothing ‘cause he’ll give his blessing to anything in case it makes the spotlight, come back Peely, least you had the balls to say NO when it mattered).

So, do I rate it much? Does anyone care? Do I care if anyone cares? No matter, OMG capture the British spirit and paint it in the shadow of impending doom, where it belongs, with a tongue in cheekiness all too recognisable and yet all too seldom. If you can stand/accept/endure the accent, you’ll surely love this tasty slice of doomloaf. Yes, doomloaf.