All Naked Flames

Anyone who samples The Klangers is sure to get in this writer’s good books, and not only do Derry’s Sullen Voe do just that on their debut, but they throw a few curveballs into the mix too. Starting off with some shuffling rhythms and the strains of Oliver Postgate’s voice on ‘The Lonely Planet,’ the record goes somewhere else entirely on ‘Fresh Hell,’ which has A Perfect Circle’s talent for fusing melody and riffage together. It’s an impressively diverse affair – ‘Into The Sun’ has dance elements, ‘Nothing New’ is influenced by Seattle grunge and ‘California’ is a wonderfully perverted pop song. With the right kind of push, Sullen Voe could cross over into the mainstream in no time.