Ah, now this is what we want. This is genuinely exciting and worth taking an interest in. At least it is to me. 6 tracks from this London based 3 piece, that twist and turn, are dischordant and feature some gorgeous bass work that reminds me of Voivod around the Nothingface period. Of course the added plus factor is they sound nothing like the slew of American bands getting all the publicity. From a commercial point of view that may be a bad thing, but from a musical perspective its great, because this is a band making music that you think excites them. The upshot is that each track has its own characteristics and explores its own dimensions. One minute it can be a noise driven experiment, the next they drop it all down. It’s everywhere but remains focussed and there’s a sense of melody all the time, even when you kind of think there shouldn’t be. The bass drives it, underpinning everything, urging the drums to follow. And I just wrote some pretentious bollocks.

It doesn’t matter, how else can you describe this. So many bands you can do it by saying something like "well they have one detuned riff and they ‘groove’ it (oooh yeah baby) all the way". And that describes a career. You can’t do that here. Take Worthless, it starts out driven by the drums, fairly spartan, the vocals come in and there’s this thick guitar behind it, not doing much but setting the tone. Then that bass comes in and just takes it to another place.

It’s another of those times where I really wish I knew how to describe music propely. The bottom line is "get this", but it deserves to be explained so much better.

It’s gorgeous really. If you’re a fan of music that’s kind of adventurous but doesn’t disappear up its own arse then you should explore this. Fans of Voivod, The God Machine, BodyChoke, Tool and the likes should apply. Fans of Korn should also apply, just to get the chance to hear something that’s not stagnated beyond belief. Please Ignore Me shows how you can use just drum and bass and vocal to build an atmosphere, to add emotion. The guitars add to it. A messed up military beat, downcast and mournful, but uplifting at the same time. It builds and builds, getting louder but without needing to do that "ah shit, we need to throw in the massive distortion to be heavy" sort of thing. You can achieve it purely with the dynamics of the music. A prime example.

Think I’ve discovered a new band for me to get really excited about again and go "ooooooo you’ve got to listen to them." And it was by chance. 15 minutes at that Cardiacs gig. It’s how these things happen. It’s not about manufacture or waiting for someone to tell you - and that includes me. It’s about putting yourself in the position where it can happen. One of those moments when you turn to people who moan about demos or unsigned bands and can justifiably say that the production and presentation is there, and the music is awesome. Ride Mr Toad, ah yes, I remember this one. It’s one of the tracks they played live. Outstanding. A bass riff that reminds me of Sabbath on one of those doom doom moments and yet whose sound at the same time reminds me of the twisted dynamics again of Voivod. They reckon they’re working on an album for release early next year. You’d be foolish to not watch out for it. Ride Mr Toad twists around yet always return to the same starting point, that rhythm. Changes of pace. Glorious. Absolutely glorious. 5 1/2 minutes that rounds off 25 minutes of yet another high class unsigned UK band. So, I may be out of date, this was recorded first half of ‘98, but better late than never. Especially when it’s something this exciting.

Go to the website

order the CD, it’s £6.95 - cheques to D. Leverno. Quality all the way.

There, that’s made me feel a damn sight better.