Some bands' influences are obvious, their make up predictable. By contrast Fireworks Night, formed by The Mules' bass player James Lesslie, reflects eclectic listening choices, a feverish imagination and a willingness to use modern and more traditional instruments. You can't say they're influenced by anyone, or at least anyone you or I have heard of; rather they're fellow-travellers with people like Smog and iLiKETRAiNS.
The songs on As Fools We Are range from simple voice and guitar numbers ('Rewards, Rewards, Rewards') to complex and full-on smoky cabaret numbers (the madcap gypsy-jazz of 'What You Don't Know') but at heart they're elemental spirits, fragile fairytale babies, existing in some sinister twilight. Their delicate construction demands careful attention but rewards it too: in 'The Prettier Part', things happen so slowly that each trembling piano note, each plucked guitar string reverberating in the air, contributes to the intricate and intimate mood. Finest tracks are the fantastical love song 'When We Fell Through The Ice', with its folk-meets-tango arrangements and Briony Greenhill's sweet vocals, and the romantic and ethereal closer 'Her Shiny Teeth': "one day those eyes will search a room/ one day those eyes will rest on you".
It's a dense and multi-layered record with a certain crepuscular beauty that reveals itself slowly but whose emotions resonate for a long time. Just bring your ears.
Written by Ged M, June 2006. www.soundsxp.com
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