Customer Reviews

Distance

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

 

 

Distance serves as an excellent sampler of the music of FSA, bringing together songs that, evidently, were not previously collected in any other form. What is so surprising is how well this collection holds together. Split 50-50 between rock-ish tracks with squalling guitar noise and deep rhythms, and ambient instrumental tracks which evoke images of natural landscapes, alternately calm and turbulent, this is music you can feel coursing through your body. There isn't a dud song among the bunch. Whenever I try to turn friends onto FSA (not always successfully) I start with Distance, and hope they'll explore more of FSA themselves.

It's hard to argue with these guys, even with their cartoonish Saturday matinee name. The titles alone are sufficiently compelling: if you happen to be thinking about plunging into an ocean (or two), plunge right in; of wandering through November mist in the middle of wherever, away you may wander; to go soaring high. . . This is the earliest FSA, much of it predating the debut FLYING SAUCER ATTACK, though qualitatively it differs little from the later "Phase Two" material. The instrumental tracks tend to work best- -"Instrumental Wish," the intense "Distance" and the two "Oceans" are especially evocative- -as what voice there is to be discerned comes through fairly clunkily. One gets the feeling that the noisier and more processed (FSA's primary concern) the track the less interesting it was in the first place but since there's no way to know, and if you like noise anyway, who cares?

Released in 1994,'Distance' was more or less FSA's follow-up to their outstanding self-titled debut CD.But,DO keep in mind this isn't album number two,it's a collection of eight(8)of the duo's 7" often hard-to-find vinyl singles.Well worth having a copy of.Okay,I admit it,I've thoroughly enjoyed EVERY Flying Saucer Attack release that's ever been put out.Tracks here that more than did it for me include "Oceans","Crystal Shade",the title cut "Distance",the folk-influenced "November Mist" and "Oceans 2".Simply another dose of FSA's trademark 'experimental space rock' to fully take in.I had fun doing just that,so will you.

With their hypnotic, droning neo-psychedelia, FSA are often regarded as successors to early-'90s noise rockers like Ride and My Bloody Valentine. Given the band's prolific output, the quality of their albums and EPs remains nearly entirely consistent, but they've never experienced commercial success. "Distance" is a 40-minute compilation of early singles and previously unreleased material, and I agree with the other reviewer who said that this was one of FSA's most accessible efforts. It's less noisy than "Goodbye" and "New lands" but more immediately rewarding than "Further" and "Chorus". Although the band doesn't really write pop songs, "Standing stone", "Crystal shade", and the sublime "Soaring high" come relatively close to conventional song formats. One thing I find amusing about this album is that you can find out from the titles how the songs sound: For example, the ambient-inflected "Instrumental wish" comes up with saxophone-like effects and warm electronic undercurrents. The title track has swampy percussion rumbling in the background, and "November mist" matches its name with various guitar lines and soft, dreamy vocals. "Soaring high" is the album's best and most enjoyable song, its opening guitar riff is very beautiful. My only complaint is that the production ensures that guitar noise often drownes out everything else, so it's almost impossible to work out what's going on with bass and drums. The band's serious garage fixation occasionally detracts from the quality of the music. The album's content, however, is really good, and although this is one of the most distorted lo-fi recordings you're likely to hear, it's also one of the best.

No less aggressive than their self-titled debut, nearly half of the tracks on "Distance" retain the heavy distortion and feedback that characterized the cuts on the vast majority of the first release, but the immediate impression is that on "Distance" these tracks are more subdued, not as rough around the edges, and with a pervasive (rather than emergent) sense of melody.

"Soaring High", "Crystal Shade", and especially "Standing Stone" present with rough edges that have been polished down just enough for the listener to not feel that they have become more contemplative. "November Mist" stands by itself as the first distillation of what David Pearce referred to as "Rural Pscyhedelia", a folky,fluidly strummed, meditative guitar melody backed with a gentle wash of feedback; the song is neither aggressive in presentation or as vocalessly ambient as "Oceans", "Oceans II", "Instrumental Wish" (driven by clarinet and shimmering waves of gentle feedback) and the percussive, ever-cyclical, ever ascending "Distance", these songs remaining grounded in Pearce's heavily atmospheric guitar effects.

What is even more remarkable about "Distance" is its sense of overall cohesion, despite being a collection of singles and not a full-length CD of material specifically recorded for that release. It gives an overall snapshot of FSA's evolution toward the mixture of heavily amplified and pastoral riffing that they were to perfect on "Further". This was my first Flying Saucer Attack CD and in many ways still my favorite, though eclipsed slightly by the dynamic tension pervading most of "Further". This is an essential CD if you are passionate about listening to guitar-driven psychedelia produced in the last 20 years.

Those who criticize fsa's "lo-fi" production techniques miss the point of some of their best work, in my opinion. The more pensive pieces, like "Oceans" and "November Mist" come across as beautiful, amorphous washes of pure sound. The "rockers" like "Standing Stone" and especially the mind (and ear) blowing "Soaring High" seem like they're attempting to replicate the feeling of standing in front of a stack of overdriven Marshall 100 watt's with a brain full of acid, where the music's so loud you can't even really hear it any more. As someone who's partaken of that experience a few times, I think they succeed brilliantly on this collection of early pieces. Every fsa release is a desert island disc, but something about the sheer abandon-to-ecstasy of this album results in it never getting too far from my CD player. To paraphrase a line in one of my favorite movies, "For those who understand, no explanation is necessary; for those who don't, no explanation is possible." If the sound of musicians straining the limits of music to express beauty and ecstasy is your cup or tea, no explanation is necessary: get this album.

Flying Saucer Attack - Distance (1994)

This release is a collection of three 7" singles, front and back sides included, plus two unreleased tracks. My Bloody Valentine is an obvious influence, although I dare say FSA's sweeping, wall-of-sound aural textures are even better. All these songs are so full of sonic detail it's easy to get mesmerized.

"Oceans" - no vocals, just otherworldly waves of sound. It doesn't get much trippier than this - takes shoegaze-y guitar to a whole new level. *****

"Standing Stone" - wiggy cubed. The vocals are serene, buried in a mountain of sound. Much more of a "shoegazer pop song" a la MBV or Catherine Wheel than anything else here. *****

"Crystal Shade" - OK, this one sounds like it could've been pulled straight off of LOVELESS. ****1/4

"Instrumental Wish" - sounds like a song by Heavenly with some ear-bustingly noisy guitar. The original "Wish" appeared on their self-titled debut. But this version is a trip with a wide range of volume levels and textures. There's also a wandering clarinet that adds color to this ultra-spacey cut. *****

"Distance" - rocking a healthy dose of industrial sounds, this one's like a train banging down the tracks as some strange monster approaches from the distance, splattering guitar wails and feedback along the way. ****

"November Mist" - This cut features the pastoral folk element (or, as the band puts it, "rural psychedelia") that pervades their following release FURTHER. Previously unreleased. Like all of these tracks, this song is flooded with washes of guitar and bizarre textures that endlessly echo. It's much quieter than the others but still sounds otherworldly. ****1/2

"Soaring High" - Closer to a conventional rock song than anything else here, although you'll never hear this much guitar distortion on standard rock radio. Make no mistake, this rocks! ****1/2

"Oceans 2" - basically more of the same, this previously unreleased instrumental is cool but inferior to "Oceans 1." ***3/4