Album – Have You Heard Things – The Spectaculars

Posted by admin on December 6th, 2007

I love hearing new music that makes my ears price up and pay attention, as was the case with The Spectaculars. I say new music, which this was to my ears, but not the the music shelves, as this album came out in 2005. It is however the most recent work from the Spectaculars and I’m hoping that something new is just around the corner.

The first track is “Mista Ambrosia”, which is as an original sound as I’ve ever heard. It’s certainly a sound you could hear on the radio and recognise in the blink of an eye. A classic case of opening an album with a sheer classic in the making. “The Save” is a more conventional pop song, with some decidedly strange harmonies, which you hear around the 2 minute mark. Probably a classic case of hearing too, because I was using headphones. “You On Me” struck me as a Lenny Kravitz cover that isn’t. It’s a kind of fusion of 70’s classic rock and 90’s guitar rock.

Sometimes I complain about a band being all over the place. This is an album that while is most definitely all over the place, manages to hold it all together into one coherent package. “Dear Sexy” has soulful Wild Cherry vocals, but again they’re fused into numerous musical styles and influences, that results in a wonderfully laid back and funky track.

“Holy Hannah” again is a total departure from the tracks that precede it, but as I said before, this is a classic example of a Chaos theory album. All over the place, but at the same time very uniform in it’s excellence. “Anti-Hectic” harkens back to the 70’s in it’s feel, but has that contemporary edge, that prevents this album from being derided as a throwback also ran. Talking of throw backs, I couldn’t help but smile when I heard “Have you Heard Things”. There’s a dialog that introduces the track, and I couldn’t help but hear Barry White’s voice in my head, as opposed to the one that is on the track.

There really is too much on this album, to really give it justice in this small space. Suffice to say, it is comforting in it’s style and influences, but refreshing, in the edge that has been introduced throughout. There’s enough different styles of track to keep you interested and highly entertained.

I must give a special mention to the final track “Stone Age” which gives the hip-hop, pop feel of the majority of the album, a real infusion of 70’s super rock. Brilliant.

Conclusion : Extremely funky, with originality by the bucket. An absolute riot of an album.

One Response to “Album – Have You Heard Things – The Spectaculars”

  1. Star Says:

    View TONY JAMESat FAN

    I checked this track out and i really loved it. This is right up my alley as for as the style of music i love. Just wanted to let you guys know. Excellent Tune, Great Job.

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