O Fracas - Fits And Starts Album Review

O Fracas

Fits And Starts

Album Review

I can't begin to express the dread which descended on me when I realised that the subjects of this review were from Leeds. As a committed Loiner I regard it as positively my civic duty to promote musical talent from the area, in the strictly philanthropic hope that one day this plugging might result in a shiny laminate backstage pass, surplus platinum disc or at worst a casual mention in the acknowledgements section of a ghosted autobiography.

The problem - and the reason for my dispirited but necessary contextualisation - is not that O Fracas are inhabitants of the city on the Aire. They've been around for several years, garnishing positivity from the likes of The Guardian and have recently qualified for the showpiece final of the Red Stripe music awards. These things matter firstly because in even mentioning them they help assuage my guilt at what follows and they also prove that I'm potentially - as we say in these parts - off my nut.

Enough procrastination then. The problem, finally, is that Fits And Starts doesn't really deserve even this much coverage and if I were being true to my critical scruples (Or if the four piece came from Daventry) it would've received a two line kiss off like 'With it's off kilter time signatures, chord sequences suffering from ADHD. and irritatingly affected vocals, O Fracas couldn't be more scenester if their hi tops were made by Korg'. I acknowledge however that this doesn't really demonstrate much fraternal unity, so perhaps it's just better to say that it's all a little bit Foals sprinkled with Vampire Weekend, but much more like the Klaxons without the synths, tunes or new rave shtick.

Sorry guys - make it up to you over a drink?

4/10

p.s. If the bombast of the city's big two doesn't do anything for you, there's always the doomy baroque splendour of the highly under rated iLikETRAiNS....

Andy Peterson