Spiral Stairs – The Real Feel
(Domino)
Following two releases as Preston School Of Industry, Spiral Stairs (Scott Kannberg to his mum) releases his first album under that particular moniker, but it’s certainly not a solo album in the traditional sense. Indeed, the former Pavement stalwart roped in a motley collection of alt-rock luminaries, including former Preston School of Industry graduates, various members of The Posies (whose John Auer also mixed it) and Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew. Unlike many such all-hands-on-deck collections, however, the result is amongst the most coherent pieces of work Stairs has ever given us, even if it does recall the ragged glory of mid-period Neil Young.
Guitars feature high on the agenda, with each song propelled by chunky power-chords and overlapping licks, with a mournful slide guitar forming the backbone of the superb ‘Call The Ceasefire’. Perhaps most surprising is Stairs’ voice, which remains high in the mix and sounds more confident than heretofore, from the chug-a-lug chimes of ‘True Love’ to the swamp blues of ‘Subiaco Shuffle’, the classic laid-back ‘70s rock of ‘’A Mighty Mighty Fall’ to the ferocious punk bluster of ‘Stolen Pills’.
Elsewhere, ‘Maltese T’ takes a ‘60s-ish melody, adds a countrified middle eight, and brings it bang up to date with all manner of instrumentation, while the obscure lyrics take it firmly into alt. rock territory. ‘Cold Change’ could be a Pavement out-take, and we can think of few higher compliments. ‘Wharf-Hand Blues’, on the other hand, plods a bit over its six-minute duration, but it’s the only dud track on what is Stairs’ most consistently enjoyable work since the demise of Pavement.
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