Quickspace, The Death Of Quickspace (Matador) 9
Back in the early 90s, when the roster of the Too Pure label were the coolest new kids on the block (Moonshake, Stereolab, Pram, PJ Harvey), Th' Faith Healers were once the flagship band, melding frenzied speedracer tempos with high-strung, hypnotic two-chord repetitions that would extend to a half hour at live shows, recalling their obsession of space rockers Neu! Their kinetic motion was interrupted when they broke up in '93. Main songwriter and guitarist Tom Cullinan picked up new singer Nina Pascale and formed Quickspace. They floundered for two spotty albums, before hitting their stride with The Death of Quickspace. The chugging rhythms are reminiscent of Th' Faith Healers, but the raw guitars are refined into a more poppy, though still distorted sound. "The Lobbalong Song" is a swirling whirlpool of pixy sticks, guitars and keyboards whose sugar rush leaves one a bit woozy. "They Shoot Horse Don't They" builds slowly into a crescendo of mournful melodies and slashing guitars. Pascale's ethereal vocals provide a lighter touch, and she and Cullinan do more harmonizing than ever. But Quickspace won't be playing stadiums anytime soon -- there is still a fidgety unrest throughout the album that occasionally erupts in spiky guitar strangulations. Cullinan stubbornly adheres to his focused artistic vision on the spacey eleven minute "Climbing A Hill." "Munchers No Munchers" starts with a series of synthesizer squirts straight out of Rush's 2112, accompanied by a noisy circular guitar riff that spins like a top. But the time it slows and stops, you realize it was an instrumental, and a damn good one. The album evokes a vague nostalgia for great indie rock from the late eighties like Husker Du, The Pixies and bands from the Shimmy Disc label but have enough neo-futuristic tricks up their sleeves (theramin, electronics) to stay relevant through the 00s (I've been waiting to say that!).
