“Blurp… Zing…Chickaah” and other such noises litter My House On Neptune, the bedroom-recorded album of unsigned, seven-strong, Waterford-based The Siam Collective. But this futuristic theme really isn’t the best thing about it - less of the Chewbacca, more of the crew backing, please, and I’ll be in the front row come gig time.
All the way through the 16-track expedition are a host of sounds reminiscent of Dr Who, cute and evil alien voices and space ray effects. Considering the title of the album it’s not surprising. Most of the titles have the Star Trek feel too, such as Ko-Phan-Ngar and Lunar Insomniac. There is much to admire here: the rapper, who doesn’t give a shit, merged with Mario Bros in ‘Warp Star’; the female influence in the excellent ‘Crave’; and the gratefully vocal-free ‘Mosquito Season’. The main motor behind the music is band founder John Leech, who writes, arranges and produces all of the tracks and sings his own lyrics on over eight of them. These tunes, unfortunately, suffer from a similar sound, delivery and lyric style, with every four beat line rhyming with the next and the next in lolloping nursery song melodies. That said, there is a very strong instinct evident in Leech’s arranging and production. The fusing of an array of musical styles from scratching and rap to electronica and straightforward songs hints at the kind of studio craft which could see the Collective really come good with a bigger budget. Drop the R2-D2 and you’ll have something good to chill to.