ALBUM REVIEW: Spooky Action At A Distance – Pattern-Seeking Animals
PATTERN-SEEKING ANIMALS’ (P-SA)’s Only Passing Through was pivotal for a band testing lightning’s fondness to strike twice in roughly the same postcode. Chasing the glory of their breakout sophomore Prehensile Tales, the band struck chords in shaking off the inherent yet reductive ‘supergroup’ labels that follow their pedigree-laden personnel, while reinstating genuine excitement in classic prog rock in the harsh light of the modern day. It may have clung to its predecessor’s whimsy and charm but it managed to push an already variegated patchwork of sounds to new, more eye-widening fabrics and colours. A year later, we find Spooky Action At A Distance (SAAAD) rearing its head in hopes of doing the same.
Has it succeeded? The answer is characteristically complex for a band that has never taken the well-trodden path. SAAAD is the most characterful yet sadly uneven venture for a quartet that have seldom put a foot wrong. It’s nothing to decry P-SA’s accomplished work thus far, but some patchy songwriting leaves some of the band’s spooky action best left at a distance. The headlines are, however, that SAAAD is the kaleidoscopic riot that its absolutely stupendous cover – featuring Einstein peering into a supernova-like eruption – would suggest. It’s the usual dollop of the unusual, with diverse ecosystems of every breed of prog, folk, and even ska co-habiting this ever-evolving tapestry in unlikely unison.
The results are marvellous. Four albums in less than five years could easily have bred a product of homogeny, a project that flew too close to the trails blazed by its forebears, but SAAAD invents its own character, the most prominent of the band’s discography. It’s extravagant, energetic and, even in its tempered moments, retains a quiet sense of deviance that keeps expectations on a knife’s edge. Bulletproof illustrates this beautifully. What begins as a sedated whisper from vocalist Ted Leonard, backed by the band’s signature retro-futuristic synth lines, turns into a romping anthem of self-empowerment where orchestra and funky bass-thwomps take the lead. Elsewhere, Window To The World rivals 2022’s Everdark Mountain in its role as the LP’s bitesize banger, while Somewhere North Of Nowhere represents one of the most eclectic of the band’s traditional prog rock narratives. There’s no doubt that, with a palette of such diversity and charisma, P-SA recaptures the magic of their hallowed successes.
This is, in part, a result of SAAAD’s delicately crafted compositions, and their elevation by the equally meticulous production package going on behind the scenes. Each song, be it a mere intermezzo or a dwarfing giant, like opener The Man Made Of Stone, is brimming with artistic depth. Rewarding listeners with every run, there are innumerable buried treasures among these ten songs that make the intimate work of such humble craftsmen feel gigantic. It could be a soulful bass croon, a rhythmic drum fill, or perhaps the way the entire LP treats its backing vocals like a new instrument – there’s plenty to beg listeners to replay over and over, and enough variety that any and every fan will covet their own understated gem. The aforementioned studio magic does well to highlight this very fact. For such an unforeseeable set of influences, SAAAD does a sublime job of catering to P-SA’s bottomless toybox of tricks with none left unnoticed once revealed from the sleeve.
With that said it must be noted that, to an extent, the pattern that these animals have sought so fervently has slightly deteriorated. SAAAD is no less colourful, no less personal, and certainly not lacking in technical proficiency but, despite following the tried and tested formula, we arrive at varying results. But how? P-SA has always played best in the most unexpected of pockets, flitting flirtatiously between innumerable sounds, concepts, and textures while maintaining an impressive sense of coherence. Yet SAAAD’s unorderly fashion at times feels, well, unorderly. In its longer moments especially, where Only Passing Through excelled so effortlessly, SAAAD feels bloated. He Once Was, the album’s 12-minute fable, is pitched against its predecessor’s similarly sized Time Has A Way and pales by comparison. Its final five minutes are a wondrous but undeserved climax for a song that uses its hefty real estate to aimlessly saunter about and provide little for listeners to cling to.
Summoned From Afar is another example. Despite its charming lyrical content of an extraterrestrial cat-and-mouse manhunt, this is the closest the band has ever strayed to being forgettable, with a typically brilliant guitar solo finale providing forgivable leverage to what came before.
With the iron still hot from Only Passing Through’s release just a year before it, SAAAD feels like the other side of a coin still spinning since being thrust into the air. Despite its minor pitfalls in songwriting, this very much works to its favour. SAAAD offers a warmer, more jovial spirit to Only Passing Through’s often serious tones and, whether intentional or not, PATTERN-SEEKING ANIMALS have completed a canvas that never once felt unfinished. This is another intoxicating stroke of art from one of few bands continuing to breathe life into the sounds of old.
Rating: 7/10
Spooky Action At A Distance is set for release on October 27th via InsideOut Music.
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