Formats
BING045CD - CD
600197004524
Details
**NB: NEW RELEASE DATE: COMING OUT AT THE SAME TIME AS STEREOLAB AND PJ HARVEY (WITH BOTH OF WHOM THEY SHARED A RECORD LABEL AS WELL AS A PREVIOUS PEEL SESSIONS COMPILATION ON STRANGE FRUIT), TH'FAITH HEALERS WERE GRITTIER AND NOISIER THAN THEIR PEERS BUT NO LESS REVELATORY. LED BY THE MEATY JANGLE OF GUITARIST TOM CULLINAN (QUICKSPACE), THEY PLAYED A TYPE OF NEO-KRAUTROCK MINIMALISM BUT NEVER FORGOT THEY WERE A ROCK BAND. SONGS COULD GO ON FOR OVER FORTY MINUTES, LOCKING INTO A GROOVE, SHIFTING AND CHANGING WITH SUBTLETY, PUMMELING THE RHYTHM HOME WITH ENERGY AND FORCE, YET REMAINING SPONTANEOUS AND FUN. THE SONGS ON THEIR THREE ALBUMS ARE AMONG THE GREATEST OF '90S ROCK, AVOIDING THE INDULGENCES OF THE DAY AND KEEPING CHAINED TO THE STRENGTH OF THE MELODY. "REPTILE SMILE," "DON?T JONES ME," AND "SPARKLINGLY CHIME" MAINTAINED A CONSTANT ENERGY THROUGHOUT, THANKS TO JOE DILWORTH'S STEEL-SECURE DRUMMING STYLE (HE TOOK OVER FOR BEN HOPKIN, WHO THEN SWITCHED TO BASS) AND ROXANNE STEPHEN'S POWERFUL AND CHARISMATIC VOCAL DELIVERY. OVER THE YEARS, THE BAND WAS ASKED FIVE TIMES TO RECORD SESSIONS FOR JOHN PEEL'S INNOVATIVE RADIO SHOW. THE FIRST SESSION WAS RELEASED IN THE MIDNINETIES ON THE STRANGE FRUIT COMPILATION, BUT THE OTHERS HAVE NOT BEEN AVAILABLE UNTIL NOW. JUST AS POWERFUL WHEN TAPED LIVE AS IN THE STUDIO, THE SESSIONS ALSO BOAST SOME SURPRISES, INCLUDING SONGS WRITTEN FOR THEIR NEVER-RECORDED FOURTH ALBUM. THIS CD COMPILES ALL THE SONGS FROM THE FOUR SESSIONS, RECORDED BETWEEN 1992 AND 1994, AND SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON A BAND THAT IS TOO OFTEN OVERLOOKED WHEN THE INNOVATORS OF THE LAST DECADE ARE SUMMARIZED. ? '90S TOO PURE BAND BELOVED BY THOSE WHO ALSO HAVE LOVED STEREOLAB AND PJ HARVEY, NOT TO MENTION NEU! AND WIRE ? FEATURES THE BAND'S LAST KNOWN RECORDINGS, INCLUDING SONGS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN RELEASED PREVIOUSLY.
Tracks
N/A
Press
3/5 REVIEW IN MOJO, REVIEWS PENDING IN WIRE, UNCUT, ROCKSOUND, PLAN B.