Customer Reviews

Amusement Parks on Fire [Vinyl]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I put this CD in the player and immediately experienced a flashback to 1993. In fact, this would probably have been the Best Album of 1993. This album is absolutely ferociously good . . . an utter storm of effects pedal spaciness. It's amazing that this kid Feerick is only 19. I'm seeing a lot of My Bloody Valentine references attaching to this band, but that's not really what I hear. The touchstones here are Hum and Swervedriver, I think. Especially Hum. Amusement Parks on Fire calls to mind Hum's breakthrough CD, You'd Prefer an Astronaut, only smarter, more atmospheric, and with haunting piano bits. In a year of fake New Wave nostalgia and fake garage-punk bands, this record is a godsend.

Everything on commercial radio sounds the same; the music is packaged and the personalities of instruments and the nuances of songs are nonexistent. Anything unique gets squeezed out and in the end, the only diversity we'll be left with is Coke vs. Pepsi. So like everyone else here, I'm waiting for a miracle, perhaps even a messiah. Mike Feerick, brainchild of the band Amusement Parks On Fire, might just be the man I've been anticipating. He was just 16 years old when he began writing, composing and playing every instrument on his first record in Nottingham, England. Three years later, he emerged with a stunning debut album consisting of nine symphonic movements, which could easily wipe the floor with anything that plays on Clear Channel. "23 Jewels" is an orchestral introduction that seamlessly segues into the first single, "Venus In Cancer," an equally delicate but ferocious track. "Venosa," the second and current released single, is a surge of glides and swoops of white noise, which build up into a powerful crescendo. My favorite track, "Asphalt" is a piano loaded interlude enriched with a scraping violin, which could bring any emo kid to tears. APOF has been compared to My Bloody Valentine and titled "shoegazing," but there's more of a kick and an edge to their music than just delay and feedback. Take my advice: cut through the crap and look for what it's all meant to be about, good music. Amusement Parks On Fire is just that. Corporate standardized programming is not.

What starts out as a thick mix, murkily summoning up many one-man, at-home recorded projects turns, with track 6, into a clearer, punchier, and more affecting sonic trajectory. It reminds me more of meatier bands from the 90s, Swervedriver (check out that band's retrospective "Juggernaut Rides") and The Catherine Wheel (badly in need of a B-sides anthology) as much as My Bloody Valentine and other, considerably softer shoegazers.

My criticism is that too much of the disc lacks individuality in the presentation, aesthetically and practically, of the vocal, guitar, bass, drums, and keys. The copy I have only shows one person, so I assume it's all done by him? Working with players besides himself might have given more personality and drive to many of these tracks, which float by in an agreeable but hardly vibrant haze until the lengthier, latter half of the album kicks in. I was very pleased by this part of the record, and I look forward to the maturation of this Nottingham studio whiz into a more fully-realized band in future efforts.

Rounded up to 4 stars for effort on the latter half; earlier half 3 stars at best. Overall, however, for any fans of the other bands and sounds mentioned here, worth a listen.