Album Review: Antiqcool -‘Songs Of Hope And Despair’ (Sicknote Records)

This is Antiqcool‘s second release, the follow-up to 2007’s Digging For Gold. Who Antiqcool are is a mystery, neither the sleeve nor their MySpace suggest as to whether it is a one-man project or a band, the sleeves mention Pete but that is all. It is hard to know where they are based, though I’m guessing the north of England.

And what of the music? The sticker on front of the CD reads ‘THe Police arrest Fleetwood Mac defended by Crosby, Stills and Nash in Simon and Garfunkel’s Crowded House.’ This is quite an accurate description; there are no kriss-krossing guitars here, nor apocalyptic beats or howling demonic exhortions to burn in hell.

Still reading? Good. This thirteen track collection of songs is a gorgeous, initiallly slight but more and more enticing and addictive with each listen. This is truly independent music, not because it has guitars on it, or isn’t on a major label, but is genuinely music that exists for its own sake, out of time, and all the better for it. I’ve played it several times since it arrived in the post several days ago, and not only do I enjoy it more with every listen, but Mrs. 17 Seconds is also enjoying it too.

If there is one thing that detracts from this album for me, it’s that while the album is pretty sublime, the record appears to have been produced so carefully that you start to miss the absence of a few rough edges that might actually add even more to this record.

No matter. I’ve been enjoying listening to this, and I think come the summer it will be on the stereo even more frequently.

Antiqcool -‘Just Another Groove On A Forty Five.’ mp3

Antiqcool -‘Pearl.’ mp3

Antiqcool -‘We’re All Doing Time In A Minefield.’ mp3

***1/2

To hear more Anticqool music, go to their Myspace site here:

The album is also available on iTunes