cosmic inspired rock
Pilgrim Fathers are a five piece from Nottingham who play music ‘for astronauts to die to.’ Shelf (vocals and other stuff) and his mates•Feg (guitars), Steve (bass), Kev (drums) and Dan ("cosmic sounds")•recently completed their full-length debut, 'Short Circular Walks In The Hope Valley,' for Undergroove Records. Recorded in Derby with John Sampson of Swimming fame (Dan Knowles from Amusement Parks On Fire also mixed a few of the tracks), 'Short Circular Walks In The Hope Valley' is the product of meticulous planning, sheer creative propulsion, and a tight budget. "We've gotten into the habit of meeting for weeks or months before each project to talk about ideas and form a sort of recording ethic, which mainly revolves around a lack of money," Shelf explains. "Mostly the idea is to get the best work you can with the means you have. We're pretty sure you can make the greatest album in the history of man for ten quid if you really try hard enough and prepare properly, and the reward is vast."
Vocals ring out from a far-flung echo-chasm behind the wall of sleep as cavernous guitar riffs culminate in thundering power grooves. Cascades of ringing notes and howling sonic ephemera spin through infinity like runaway asteroids untethered from gravity's pull. A psychic tour of the molten universe, if you will (and even if you won't): Take your protein pills and put your helmet on, etc. In fact, the band themselves eloquently describe their output as "The same sound as when you open a door and there is another dimension behind the door and there's a band playing behind that door to the other dimension." Weird!
Songs are definitely ‘out there!’ The singing gets under your skin, and with the vocals sounding so distant like it was recorded in a shed at the bottom of the garden whilst the rest of the band are playing right in your living room. Spooky and ethereal sounding it’s a strange listening experience for my little melodic rock ears and is as far at the other end of the rock spectrum as I can handle. A barrage of sounds and textures constantly bombarding you making you submit to the intense experience. It’s a little difficult for me to tell where one song ends and another begins. Its not my idea of rock heaven, but who am I to argue with something as different and unique as these guys.