The other day I waded through the debut album Disobey by the Scottish band Comedy of Errors and was reminded of all the mediocre stuff that's as plentiful in this genre as in any other. The shadows of Genesis and Marillion loom large and long in the British prog scene and sometimes UK prog bands just get stuck under them. Now, I have read and heard that C.o.E. are a charming live band - a certain personality does comes through the essentially recycled music - but what I'm hearing is a very much a Fish-era Marillion re-run, only played with a little less skill and a lot less bravado and originality. It's competent but not much more. I don't mean to be too negative to an obviously sincere and long-standing band... but this is how I feel.
The reason for the whine above is three bands I have played these past few days: Birds and Buildings, Cirrus Bay and Arch Enemy. They have absolutely nothing in common, except that even when they acknowledge their respective musical heritages, they have the assurance and skill to move freely and express themselves within them. You may wonder what an über-metal band like Arch Enemy is doing in this posting, but you'll find out...
Birds and Buildings come from Washington DC and are a totally new aquaintance to me. Their debut Bantam to Behemoth (2008) is awesome; rarely have I been this impressed by a band's first album. This has been described in bandcamp.com as "a child of Crimson, Happy the Man and Gentle Giant" which is pretty accurate, but I think there's not that much KC and GG and much more of the trippily creative, jazzy and playful Gong. Pretty much the same can be said of the more recent Multipurpose Trap (2013) though the songs are now notably shorter.B&B have a distinctive own sound: pretty aggressive (fuzz bass and everything) and there's an intriguing sense of near-hysteria and almost apocalyptic undercurrent enhanced by song titles like "Tunguska", "Terra Fire", "Yucátan 65: The Agitation Of The Mass" and so on. The playing is fierce and virtuosic but never in a showy manner; the pieces are very well composed, not just a series of impossible riffs, and there are shimmering lyrical passages that appear in the middle of the sonic storm
Cirrus Bay, from the state of Washington, are in many ways the polar opposite of B&B. They are far from the most technically accomplished band in the world - the playing is downright clumsy at times - but they proudly do their own thing: somewhat folksy, quite positive, occasionally slightly epic/romantic and always cheerfully melodic semi or crossover prog. If reference bands have to be mentioned, I'd say Camel and occasionally Mike Oldfield, but with a more relaxed (American?) attitude.The new album, The Search For Joy, is a pleasure. The female lead vocals are charming and the vocal harmonies likewise. Their biggest sin may be the sameness of the material but I like the natural quality of the overall sound and the obvious pleasure they get from playing this stuff. As a positive prog mood lifter and bringer of good cheer this goes down very nicely, thank you.
But it's also a dazzling display of incredible musicianship: there are thousands of little details in the arrangements, the band's ability to create nuances in the firestorm is amazing, not to mention the sheer nerve of putting all those almost achingly beautiful guitar melodies in the center of so many songs. Just listen to a track like "Time Is Black" and marvel. Few prog bands can cram this many notes, ideas, dynamic subtleties, virtuoso playing and dashing dramatic bravado into four minutes. Goddamn marvelous, it is.
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