EVANGELICALS - So Gone

Evangelicals are a debuting trio from Oklahoma, fronted by singer and guitarist Josh Jones. On their album, titled "So Gone", the band dish out a raucous blend of jittery psych electricity and refined (in both slow and danceable form) pop melodicism, not content to simply juxtapose the elements (which, admittedly, often happens anyway), but trying to invade the body of the songs with noise and/or creatively alter their structure. The Flaming Lips come to mind, although Evangelicals still sound much rougher around the edges.

As an example of the music on offer, there's the (genuine, since the record opens with an intro) first proper track, "Another Day (And Yoor Still Knocked Out)", dominated by noisy flashes of electric guitars and electronics, abruptly interrupted by breezy openings of carefree pop with a strong 60s flavour, and closing on epic guitar surges. The lesson is pulled off better, though, by a couple of other tracks (which actually blend elements together rather than working through contrasts). There's "Here Comes Trouble", which fizzes and darts between starts and restarts (with an honourable mention for drummer Austin Stephens), conveying echoes of well-being; and above all "What An Actress Does Best", a reckless, brilliant surf-rock number with extremely rich instrumentation, from banjo to various electric guitars, topped off by an eclectic lead vocal that, over the closing guitar flurries, even allows itself the luxury of quoting the unforgettable Jeffrey Lee Pierce.

If other tracks like "Hello Jenn, I'm A Mess" and "Goin Down" keep faithfully reproducing the same formula without managing to leave much of a mark, the variations on the theme fare better. Like "Diving", a pleasant, watery little pop number sung in falsetto, which chimes along joyfully and is elevated by a shoegazer streak in the chorus; like "My Headache", a sweet lullaby muddied by intrusions of every sort, closing out on acoustic guitar alone; like "The Water Is Warm", a dreamy serenade pitched in the register of Chris Martin. While we're at it, let's also mention the last remaining track, "Into The Woods", a little electronic toy of pulses and keyboards that adds nothing and takes nothing away.

"So Gone" probably pays a heavy price for being a bit unripe - at times the layering seems to want to hide shortcomings, and indeed the solutions chosen resemble each other a little too closely, as if Evangelicals had found a "template" track and kept serving it up in not-so-different sauces. Weighing up strengths and weaknesses, what emerges is a decent record, and an enjoyable one in places.

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28/06/2006