Exit Calm : 'Exit Calm'
Released: 17th May 2010
Label: AC 30 Records
“Pure Genius – the assembly of iron and wood because temples must be made. And the avoidance of all that whiny, sexless bullshit passing for rebellion at the moment”
I’m sure that if you are anything like the other 99% of this shambling collection of fleshbags we call the human race you have at least once wanted to have done something that someone else had accomplished, and I don’t just mean something frivolous like not clocking on to that rocket fit bird before your mate did the other week. For me, I wish I’d scored this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8UkwirffjQ/ goal, painted “Full Fathom Five” by Jackson Pollock and written this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suuU3mliNo8&feature=related/ song, and it happened again the other week when I heard that quote above, which tumbled from the mouth of Todd Eckhart, the producer of the superlative, touching and beautifully shot Joy Division film "Control". It was a fantastically pithy phrase that gave his take on Exit Calm’s debut LP, an event anticipated in my life just as much as the hope I hold that a meteor will streak through the atmosphere, hidden by volcanic ash, and bury itself in Lady Gaga’s head. Saying that, she’d only dress up in a shit customised astronaut suit and write a savagely awful electro-pop bollocks song about it, and SHE’D STILL BE EVERYWHERE. I despair..
Anywho, to drift away from my borderline psychopathic fantasies for a moment, we should get to the nub of the issue, which is Exit Calm’s eponymous debut album. Though I’m loath to use such feckless cliché, this has been a record years in the making, one so feverishly awaited that any wisp of a rumour about it sent the hardcore fanbase dribbling like Pavlov’s dogs in an abattoir. On the back of some good singles and EP releases, not to mention live shows that brought noise levels that made My Bloody Valentine seem like George Formby, the band built an unswervingly loyal band of followers who would criss-cross the globe (and the north of England) to spread the gospel. Anyone who saw my previous review of the band would quite rightly class me as a dyed-in-the-wool disciple myself, as every time I saw them they blew my top clean off, and as a cynical, world-weary type I went there to hate them against the hype I’d heard, but couldn’t, as they were just far too ace. I did however harbour doubts about how they would wrestle this tsunami of sound out of the ether and on to acetate, whether that swelling stormcloud of sound they produced could be tied down to a successful record.
As I should have expected, O me of little faith, the answer is an emphatic YES, yes they can. Exit Calm is an album of such astonishing maturity, brilliance and swagger that it is surprising that god himself (who doesn’t exist) didn’t lend a hand setting up the pedals and mics, with Buddha filling in on backing vocals (not sure if he exists, or would be needed). From the brooding, opening bass of 'You’ve Got It All Wrong', the best opening to an album since Aqua’s “Happy Boys & Girls” in 1997*, to the final, ethereal gasps of 'Serenity', this is truly a record to behold. To nail down the sound is a difficult task, as there are elements of so many different styles tossed in the pot. Yes, you have the shoegazey (and not the fugesi shoegazey sound of The XX), iridescent swathes of guitar from Rob Marshall, at times thick and loud, at times soft and delicate, but these are not accompanied by flat, whispered vocals at all, as Nicky Smith brings all the power and passion to bear through the words. Again, you expect the laid-back rhythm section of a slower band, but this is where Exit Calm stand apart, not just anchoring the songs but actually making them with awesome bass lines and drumming that just pummels the songs along. If you liked, you could dance to the beat laid down by Simon Lindley and Scott Pemberton, but I wear cool shoes and have ace Lego-man hair, so you won’t catch ME up to that sort of shenanigans. Finally, the distinctively deft use of dynamics, the builds and drops of the live songs, are all there, a rollercoaster into the clouds that all of a sudden dips you into the depths. It’s exhilarating, with a capital EX.
Saying this album is “ a bit good” is a bit like saying there was something “a bit iffy” about Josef Fritzl. Fans of yawningly banal opinion might want to take a seat for this next bit. This is as good a debut album as Definitely Maybe or Unknown Pleasures, and sets a high-water mark for swirling guitar music steeper than any other wave has ever broken. In this horrid little scribbler’s opinion, it bests 'Storm In Heaven' (I’m going to get caned for that I can tell) and in songs like 'Hearts & Minds', 'Forgiveness' and 'When You Realise', not to mention the hurricane ferocity of 'With Angels', they have created something that will stand the test of time. Here’s another cliché to finish up, “All killer, no filler”. Ugh, I feel so dirty…
Or, if you prefer it spelled out to you with a little more brevity, I’ll hand over to Mani, super Red and bass player par excellence: “It’s propoh fookin’ music..”
No more needs to be said.
10/10
Words: Paul Madill
*Thought I’d better point out this was a joke, “Doctor Jones” was always the finest of Aqua’s varied oeuvre…"
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