Customer Reviews

Fast Rise & Fall of the South

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

 

 

Though there are modern touch points for this Chapel Hill, NC quartet's music -- Belle & Sebastian, for example -- the slightly sing-song vocals are often mindful of Village Green-era Ray Davies delivered in Zombies-styled minor keys with the hypno-dreamy style and far-ranging rock-electronica of Meddle-era Pink Floyd touched by freneticism of The Feelies. It's a smooth brew that produces flashes of recognition without ever dwelling on any one influence long enough to copy. And more to the point, the influences meld beautifully to produce hauntingly melodic songs that have both a folk-psych base and an electric-pop finish. Much like the tree branches in the cover photo, the music is spare in its dreamtime temperament, but complex in actual arrangement. Full kit drums are mixed low behind languid keyboards and stormy guitar feedback, with gentle acoustic guitars that are topped with pensive vocals. Penned entirely by Manx guitarist Bill Taylor, the album's mood ebbs and flows with impressionistic lyrics of hard work, misunderstandings and dashed expectations. All in all, a captivating disc. 4-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2005 hyperbolium dot com]

The Kingsbury Manx are a band that have been around for five years. They are from North Carolina. They are known for exotic psychedelic music. I have seen them play in New York City a few times. It's been loud, wild, and entertaining. This record is a little different. A guy from the band Wilco produced it. One member, Bill Taylor, wrote the whole album. It is more acoustic and it is a quieter affair. "What A Shame" is almost like a Beatles song. Many of the songs start with a guitar strum or a piano line. This is a band that is inventive and very musical. "900 Years" has an interesting vocal part. They are a talented bunch that are becoming more like Wilco, M. Ward, and Sparklehorse. Maybe if they play more across the country, more people will absorb their potential. This is great stuff. It may be one of those great records that will be rediscovered again and again.

This band has a lot going for it on The Fast Rise And Fall Of The South. There is a good balance of acoustic and electric instruments. Good hooks, good rhythmic grooves. I like the lyrics, which tend to be a bit obscure and elliptical. Overall, this album tends to be fairly mellow and mid-tempo. Often I was reminded of the quieter material by the Kinks, say Muswell Hillbillies-style.

Some of the tunes are put together very well. What I don't like is that some of the songs run on too long with repetition of specific grooves or lines. Standouts for me are the tracks And What Fallout, 10008, and Nova. Perhaps if the musicians were good at improvisation, they could have turned some of the longer songs into jams that would hold the listener's interest a bit better.

Don't get me wrong. This is solid work. It is pleasant, comfortable listening. If they could edit things a little more tightly, kick the energy level up a bit, they might be quite awesome.

"The Fast Rise and Fall of the South" forces one to conjure up similes and metaphors, as the music evokes a heady atmosphere of country air, sea salt, and yeast. Listening to the songs does require some attention as there are layers and subtleties plying one's ear, competing for your attention. Hints of Pink Floyd's Meddle (San Tropez, for instance) and more than a passing kinship to the shimmering sound of The Shins or understanding elegance of Warm in the Wake are apparent.

The air of lushness is sustained by piano and organ, but punctuated with unexpected percussion, jaunty guitar, trumpet, flute, and even some banjo. The mellotron proves both their best friend and worst enemy at spots--take your pick. At times, the band seems content to drift a bit and borrows a bit too much from the cupboard of its predecessors, but all in all, "The Fast Rise and Fall of the South" offers an interesting escape on its flight of fancy.

The Fast Rise and Fall (used)CD was received with prompt service and looked as if it was new. I'll use this service again for my listening pleasure purchases.

After several albums that always threatened greatness but never really got there, the Manx deliver their shining moment.
The production is spot on, very airy and crispy, lots of soft piano lines mixed with delicate acoustics guitars strums with the occasional guitar blow outs, superb.
The X factor on this albums are the songs, this time no duds,they really sharpened their pencils this time.
Favorites include the jaw dropping beauty of "oh no" the opening waltz time of "harness..",the gorgeous harmonies of "And what fallout", the psychedelic guitar blow outs of "10008" and "old mountainsides".
If you were about to give up on kingsbury manx, please don't,
this is album of the year stuff.
Buy it before they disappear into rock's history pages.

The Kingsbury Manx is a surprisingly good unknown indie rock group - they definitely can write some good songs with great hooks. The only problem with the band is the singer who, unfortunately, is a little bit unlikable - he's standable, yes, but at times I don't know if most people would like him. Their musicianship, which is really good, unfortunately sounds a bit derivative - there's really nothing new here that says to me that they have found their own sound. That aside, however, you'll still like it as there's several good indie rock songs here (the first five, I'd say). The first track, "Harness & Wheel", is a pretty good tune that I think most will find enjoyable. The rest of the album is good, but they aren't as catchy as the first five songs were. The lyrics are relatively interesting to listen to, but the singer isn't charismatic enough to make you WANT to listen to them. Despite all of this, it's still a very very good indie rock record, but to call it a classic would be a disservice to the other truly unique and great records out there. All in all, however, I would highly recommend this!

Highlights include:
the entire album!

As the blurbs on Amazon say, this does sound like an attempt to beat the Shins at their own game. It's less obscure than some of the Manx's earlier releases, but the relatively direct approach does not necessarily mean a marked improvement in the sound. The opening reminded me somehow of Simon & Garfunkel circa their album "Bookends," and the tentative, insular, and lush similarities between late 60's orchestral pop stick with the Manx. Not bad, but not very original either, at this point. I prefer the more obfuscated, angular sound of the more primitive records to this more accessible stylings, since alt-rock has had by now its share of White Album and Smile imitations, however well-crafted, sincere, or carefully constructed.

It's all respectable enough, but as for so much of the first half of the 00's, the music that's been created smacks more of the band members' parents' record collections, and we need a more distinctively individualized sound, for not only the post-punk second generation, but for the disciples of Brian Wilson, the Beatles, and Van Dyke Parks. When you hear an actually loud guitar on one track here, it shakes you out of the torpor that infuses much of these pretty, but ultimately insubstantial tunes.
More variety would have made for a much better album from the Manx. Their bid for a more mainstream appeal winds up sounding far too middle-of-the-road, for polite public radio rather than dimly lit evenings with their aura wafting over the car static, as I had heard them at midnight one Irish evening five years ago.