Search - Working for a Nuclear Free City :: Businessmen & Ghosts

Quite possibly the most underrated band in 2007...

Joseph Broze | chicago | 10/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow. This is the stateside debut from this incredible and underrated Manchester band. It's on the same label that brought Fujiya & Miyagi to the US. Contained in these two discs is some varied and amazing music.



There are visible influences of madchester, shoegaze, britpop, electronica, dance music, folk, krautrock, alternative, "indie", etc - and believe it or not they meld these diffirent genres into a great collection of songs.



This double disc (what a steal for $12.99) contains their self-titled first album that was only released in the UK, as well as their "Rocket" EP (also UK-only).



I cannot recommend this CD enough - essential for fans of LCD Soundsystem, Airiel, Hot Chip, A Sunny Day In Glasgow, Caribou, Deerhunter, Fujiya and Myagi, the Stone Roses, Charlatans UK, Ulrich Schnauss, A Place to Bury Strangers, Stereolab, etc.



I am highly anticipating a US tour but who knows if we'll get that lucky!?!?!"

Fantastic Album

T. Tanna | New York, New York United States | 01/04/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This band really evokes the feeling of early 90s Manchester. Influences like the Stone Roses, Joy Division, Jesus & Mary Chain, Charlatans UK are all there. The album (almost 2 hours long - 2 discs) moves from mellow to bass-driven electronica to brit-pop to spacey/dream-pop all very seamlessly. There is kind of a muted sound that overlays much of the album - sort of a shoegaze sound.



The fact that they can cover so many musical genres while sounding this solid and consistent is a true testament to how good the band is. I am really surprised they haven't gotten more coverage to date. These guys may have had one of the best albums to come out of England in 2007 and one of the best indie rock albums of the year overall.



Overall a stunning and really unique piece of work and one that I'm sure we'll be hearing more about in the future.

"

Plays like a Mancunian mix-tape

John L Murphy | Los Angeles | 04/08/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I read the previous three five-star reviews, and while I agree that this group has considerable imagination and evident talent, the sprawling album (generously two discs and while I thank the label and band for this abundance, perhaps this meant more lulls in the tracks than a single disc would have provided) sounds like a mix-tape. This is not meant as a negative remark. The songs often move along efficiently if not that surprisingly, like a much contemporary "smart" dance music akin to an import show on a hip public or college radio station. The synths, curiously, often flutter and twitter in a noticeably dated way, as if the player's getting used to the frills of the instrument--circa 1974. Such rather amateur playing-- or deliberate nostalgia-- in fact, however intentional, adds to the homespun appeal of this very accessible double-CD. It toys with retro-sounds along with paying homage to past hit parades out of their native city.



I'm not much of a fan of the New Order genre of Manchester music, and much more of this CD than I'd been led to believe follows their municipal predecessors. For me, much of the synth-driven tunes worked more as ambient than attention-getting. Again, this may be a plus for other listeners, however. So, if you do like New Order and the mid-80s club sound, this may please you far more. I wish they'd've nodded to The Buzzcocks, not to mention Joy Division or The Fall, but certainly Stone Roses and Happy Mondays (if not The Smiths!) echo heavily here.



For me, as a Krautrock and shoegazer aficionado, I was attracted to the group by an ad that labelled these two styles, along with electronica, as their selling point. Two out of three ain't bad, and the band's capable of so completely a disparate array of styles that I'd bet if you played this for the newcomer, he or she could not tell this was not a compilation of various bands from the past twenty years!



So, this is recommended, around 3.5/5, for the CD "Rocket" from 2006 has been scattered over these double discs along with other tracks. Perhaps a bit too much of a good thing because of this deployment, but as I remarked earlier, the largess comes very appreciated by this consumer. A promising U.S. début from a group that I predict will do even better, once they integrate their influences into a signature tone that recalls WFANFC themselves and not only their many inspirations."