Single Review: Crippled Black Phoenix – I, Vigilante (EP)
Crippled Black Phoenix is a British prog-rock supergroup formed in 2004 by members of various other bands including Mogwai. Since then they have recorded three full length albums and undergone many personnel changes. Though they released two studio albums last year, most of the songs from those albums were written and recorded in 2007 so the band, desperate to work on something new in lieu of an album, went back into the studio and I, Vigilante is the result.
As is typical of prog-rock, although it consists of only 5 tracks, ‘I, Vigilante’ lasts an astonishing 45 minutes. It’s no surprise that Crippled Black Phoenix don’t release singles, at an average 9 minutes long no station (except maybe 6music) would play them. This is a shame because despite their length the songs her are really well composed. Much like Pink Floyd, they aren’t in any rush to get to the meat and potatoes of the song, on ‘We Forgotten Who We Are’ they take a full three minutes of gorgeous piano (which, by the way would make an awesome film score) before the rest of the band join in. This isn’t necessarily an EP to suit any occasion, the music ebbs and flows, moving from delicate pianos to soaring guitars and back again all the time hiding dark undertones. To do it justice you really need to play it right through and give it your undivided attention, but if you can afford 45 minutes of lying on the sofa with your eyes shut it’s an immensely rewarding listen! 3/5
Mark Cousens
Out 6th September on Invada
www.myspace.com/crippledblackphoenix
No related posts.
