Back in January, you'll remember (ahem) that I was looking forward to the Shhh! Festival at Cecil Sharp House. No jaw-dropping revelations, but it was an enjoyable afternoon/evening, spent with Guy, Annie, Piers, Jeremy and a friend of J's whose name I forget. Guy had seen Fuzzy Lights before, and recommended them. By the time they came on, three of us had nipped out of Cecil Sharp House for a short break, and we returned feeling agreeably woozy. In that state of mind, Fuzzy Lights were just ticket: fuzzy and light. Jeremy, especially, took to them and said he was minded to buy their album. I went with him to the table where a couple of band members had their stuff laid out. When I saw the lovely vinyl copy of the album, I started to feel tempted. But this was when I was still trying to keep a tight rein on my purchases so that I could bring this blog to a close on 21 June, so I was torn. J and I babbled at each other incoherently — CD, LP, both, neither? — and about as decisively as a couple of party streamers tied to the back of a baby buggy. I started to get cold feet and kind of wanted to withdraw, but by this time we'd taken so much of the band members' time — at least it felt to us like a long time — that I felt obliged to get something. So we went for the special combo deal that got us both the CD and LP for only a little more than the price of either. I took home the LP, Jeremy has the CD.
I thought the music might not sound so good when heard outside of that context and that mindset. Turns out I needn't have worried: if you don't have a woozy state of mind when you start listening, you will have by the end of the first side. I don't have the vocabulary to describe drum sounds, but it's got that spacey vibe that's somewhere between Low and Pink Floyd's Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun. There's an occasional appearance from a scrapey violin, which I love, and the guitar has that coagulated fluid bleeding feeling. There's even a bit of saw, which is never a bad thing.
(After my casual dismissal of guitar-led indie rock yesterday, you might feel I'm being inconsistent, since Fuzzy Lights are kind of indie rock, featuring guitars. To which I say (a) consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, and (b) there have always been some who seemed to create some kind of alchemy out of the same old ingredients. Sonic Youth, Galaxie 500 and, more recently, Wolf People come first to mind. And how could I forget The Clientele? Fuzzy Lights belong in that company.)
The songwriting seems a little slight, but I would definitely see them again — and would have done so last weekhad not the opportunity clashed with parents' evening at the nursery and a personal anniversary.
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