Post Rock is nothing to be afraid of...Old School Tie's 'Mystery Sound Playground' reviewed

Recently when perusing a certain gig guide I came across a group who described themselves as 'Dystopian Space Rock' "mmm" I thought..."music genre no. 4357 has been created there". Well 'Old School Tie' are the antithesis to that particular group with music genre no. 4358 now to be known as 'Utopian Space Rock'.

I've been aware of Old School Tie for some time now, their 2006 release 'The Addict' shown some excellent potential, good solid post rock grooves with some high quality live recordings thrown in for good measure. In 2007 their 'You Borrow from Tomorrow' release cemented them (in my opinion) as aces in the genre, highly polished and melodic and worthy of comparison to groups such as 'Pelican', 'Mogwai', 'Mono' and more locally Birmingham's 'Una Corda' and 'Mothertrucker'.
When I received their new CD 'Mystery Sound Playground' I pressed the play button with some trepidation. What could this group do to surprise me now? How could they follow up 'You Borrow from Tomorrow' and keep it interesting? Well in a word 'Vocals'. So surprised was I at the quality of the vocals on this recording, I was left wondering why they kept their mouths shut for so long! If I could compare the vocal style to anyone it would probably be Coldplay's Chris Martin only less dreary and doom laden, oh yeah...and it sounds far superior!

The album has a euphoric, laid back, dreamy feel with their signature bubbling bass sound, intricate guitar melodies and layers. The drums are always holding varied rhythms on a solid medium pace which always gives the impression that the tracks are a little faster than they really are. The keyboard use throughout is used to high effect, providing that little bit extra to the sound, even providing a beautiful solo in the form of the track 'Walls' which reminds me ever so much of the striking minimalism of Brummy pianist 'Rich Batsford'. This is a 5 out of 5 album, no doubt!

Don't just take my word for it. Take a listen to them at their myspace page www.myspace.com/oldschooltie and breathe in their magnificence!