Almost 10 years since they released their self-titled debut on Beggars Banquet, The Early Years returned on September 23rd with a brand new album called, simply, ‘II’.
It was recorded in their home studio in rural Cheshire before being mixed in Atlanta, Georgia by Jason Kingsland (Deerhunter) It’s a record we have been trying to encourage for the best part of a decade, and it’s well worth the wait. It’s stunning; the sound of a band who have matured and relaxed into their playing, created without any external pressures or expectations. It is also more relevant now than ever, despite their long absence; it towers above the legions of kraut-psych bands who came along in their wake with the sheer scale of its scope and vision.
Opener ‘Nocturne’ is a ferocious collision of man and machine: guitars sounding like Will Sergeant has moved to Neil Young’s farm, Roland TB-303s squelching away and the wild-eyed energy of Julian Cope circa ‘Fried’. Cope and the Bunnymen are reference points throughout, but it also takes in the elegiac New Order of ‘Fluxus’, the Dean Wareham duelling Tom Verlaine solos of ‘Out Of Signal’, the Spiritualized lullaby of ‘Hush’, and the Harmonia-meets-pre-definite-article-Verve of album closer ‘Memory Case’.
New song from The Early Years‘ second album, ‘II’, released on September 23rd, 2016
Following the long-awaited release of The Early Years’ new album ‘II’ last week, we are excited to reveal that we have licensed their self-titled debut album for a special 10th anniversary vinyl reissue.
‘The Early Years’ will be released on November 11th as a limited-edition pressing of just 300 copies on transparent orange wax. It’s a brand new vinyl cut by Noel Summerville, who has previously worked on a number of My Bloody Valentine and Warp archive reissues.
Initial orders from the Sonic Cathedral Shop will come with a bonus CD replica of the band’s first demo, which they sent to us in 2005 and contains early versions of ‘All Ones And Zeros’, ‘Things’ and ‘High Times And Low Lives’.
‘The Early Years’ was originally released on Beggars Banquet on September 25th, 2006 and includes the singles ‘All Ones And Zeros’ and ‘So Far Gone’. It also features the live staple ‘Simple Solution’, which closed the band’s incendiary set at Liverpool International Festival Of Psychedelia .On its release, it received glowing reviews from the likes of NME, Uncut, The Fly (RIP), The Independent (RIP) and the standard mid-noughties ,we think it’s an underrated classic that will appeal to fans of ‘Sowiesoso’ and Spiritualized alike. It also comes with the seal of approval of Brian Eno, The Horrors and Damo Suzuki, among others,
The Fat Angel Sings 