The Polyphonic Spree - 'The Beginning Stages Of...' (679)
5/5
By: Toby L
Commanding, wildly inventive, and as joyously subtle as a tank thundering through the streets of New York during rush-hour, The Polyphonic Spree have made one of the debut-albums of 2002.
Those already familiar with the Texans may now know a few facts which ensure this 25-piece 'choral symphonic pop band' to stand out slightly from the others in such a musical-field: namely, the involved characters wear white-robes when performing; live-shows have been likened to a 'revelation'; and - despite all this, and somewhat rewardingly - they are not likely to turn up to our door-steps trying to convert us to an almost perverse and twisted religious-cause... Though, even if they were to, you'd be sinful to turn them down on their offers of a brighter life.
And anyone familiar with the act's co-ordinator, Tim DeLaughter, will additionally be aware that his past with Tripping Daisy was somewhat of a weird one, too; back then merging psychedelia with an uncanny knack for memorable melodies and pulsating arrangements, his new enterprise doesn't seem to have drifted too far off his preliminary, beaten track.
Continuing such a theme more than amply with this LP, 'The Beginning Stages Of...', a record recorded mostly live and in just a mere three days, DeLaughter and The PS have formed a clutch of 'ten sections' ('songs' to everyone else) that are able to rob from the best parts of The Flaming Lips, Grandaddy (themselves fans of the 'group', anyway) as well as Beethoven. And every moment is breathtakingly sensational.
Opening affairs with the heady, freaky heights of 'Have A Day/Celebratory', what seems most striking, aside from the occasionally wry or elevating lyrical subject-matter, is the grand instrumentation; classic Picasso in musical form, it's at first thought free-style, loose and untamed, yet, on closer inspection, controlled, vivid and wholly dynamic, implementing full-blaring trumpets alongside buzzsaw violins and guitars that prove similarly unrelenting. Quite so, it's such a radical application of ideas and a smattering of paint on to the canvas that allows the genius-pop of 'Soldier Girl' and 'Hanging Around' to transcend into heaven-heading anthems, whilst propelling the glowing majesty of 'It's The Sun' right up to the league of compelling song-writing originality that made the greats before The Polyphonic Spree so vital.
Further subverting the conventions before them, it seems the ensemble don't mind dabbling in the art of severe, cold noodling, the experimental DJ Shadow/Aphex Twin likes of 'A Long Day' closing the album in fine form: an almost laughable 30 minutes of interchanging tones of varying speeds, conjuring a perfect soundtrack to the head-rush you experience after having sat through a previous forty minutes of blissful creativity.
So, there you have it: a review as overblown and positive as the work that inspired it. Pop down the record-store yourself and experience the same euphoric magic.
Artists in this article: The Polyphonic Spree
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