There are two reasons I have this record in my collection (and have any idea who The Most Serene Republic are at all): it's on the Arts & Crafts record label, and it was the Tuesday-Record-From-Spillers year. I bought this in the July, so the plan was fully under way (to buy an LP every Tuesday from Spillers for a year) and I'd already had some highs and lows. I was taking lots of chances on things and, in the grand scheme of things, £10 isn't too bad.
This record isn't bad, it just doesn't do a whole lot for me. There is one great song, Present of Future End, which far surpasses anything else on the record. Being on Arts & Crafts I had high hopes of them being my new Broken Social Scene - that label and group of people had produced some great music and I was a huge fan at the time - but ultimately they come across as BSS-lite, which no one really needs. There are some interesting moments (which are mostly too short-lived), Present of Future End is genuinely a great song and Why So Looking Back is one of the more exciting tracks, but it mostly just fails to grab me in any way. There are lots of layered vocals throughout, which normally works for me, but here neither voice really catches me. There are also quite a few instrumental interludes, which doesn't help. I occasionally give it a play but it does have a tendency to fade into the background a bit.
Format: 12", picture sleeve
Tracks: 12
Cost: £10 new
Bought: Spillers Records
When: 15/07/08
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code
