Electric Soft Parade - No Need to be Downhearted Album Review

Electric Soft Parade
No Need to be Downhearted
Album Review

After the somewhat patchy American Adventure album, the Electric Soft Parade are back on form with their latest release. No Need to be Downhearted sees the White brothers return to the delirious psych-pop of their debut, with joyous results.

The spirit of Sid Barrett hangs over this record, particularly on the none-more-Floyd 'Woken by a Kiss' and the twinkly 'Shore Song', but for the most part, the emphasis is on strong melody.

'Misunderstanding' is a delightful slice of throwaway pop with a riff cadged from Weezer's 'Island in the Sun', whereas 'Secrets' is a slow-burning lush ballad that could have been an outtake from Love's Forever Changes. 'Cold World' is another highlight, starting off like one of Paul McCartney's Beatles songs, and ending in a big pop-rock crescendo that would make Rivers Cuomo weep with envy.

It seems that their stint in Brakes has given Electric Soft Parade a new lease of life, they sound sharp, focussed and ready to take on the mainstream without losing what made them such a special band in the first place.

A nice, sunny album for a rainy day. Recommended.


Ben Davy