Misty's
Big Adventure
Funny Times
****
Misty’s
Big Adventure have gone and got all serious. I mean, they really
aren’t happy bunnies, as illustrated on opener and title-track
‘Funny Times’ with Grandmaster Gareth musing, “People
say these are funny times, but I don’t know why I’m
not laughing.” He exclaims that these are ‘bleak times’
as well and this new contemplative and morose mood underpins every
aspect of this their third album release.
In the past Misty’s aural ideas hit the listener like pieces
of musical shrapnel from a massive ideas explosive - you were
never quite sure what would hit you next. Now, whilst the playful
eclecticism is still apparent, the sound is far more polished
and refined - Misty’s are obviously mastering the art of
pop music. But it is this refining that will leave fans of their
previous albums a little perplexed, with Funny Times
lacking the bouncy immediacy of debut The Solar Hi-fi System
or the genre roller-coaster ride of the epic The Black Hole.
But this is a minor qualm as Funny Times is a undoubted
pop-gem, proving yet again that Grandmaster Gareth is a musical
genius and highly underrated. This album could well be the stepping-stone
to the critical and commercial success they have deserved for
years.
The first half of the album, whilst similar in its sombre pacing,
is a nice enough build-up to the excellence of the record’s
second half which crashes in with ‘Sitting On Your Doorstep’
which sees Misty’s wonderfully step into the realm of the
dreamy pop of Broadcast and Stereolab adding their own unique
humour.
Recent live favourites ‘How Did You Manage to Get Inside
My Head’ and ‘We Do! Do We? We Do!’ translate
brilliantly to record, with the latter’s manic swinging
sixties organ producing a soul-stomper reduced in speed and distorted
by Joe Meek that ends in an explosive horn burn-out.
‘Serious Thing’ is a stand-out pop tune, a swaying
acoustic number underpinned by swirling atmospheric sound that
builds to a spine-tingling crescendo.
Funny Times is not the Misty’s album I was expecting,
and does not hit the heady heights of the near-perfect Black
Hole, but it is still one of 2007’s best albums by
one of Britain’s best bands.
It is an album that will grow and grow and could well be considered
a classic in times to come.
by
Chris Marks
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