The Fat Angel Sings

This debut album by Fear of Men comes partly from projects completed in an English art school by frontwoman Jessica Weiss, but often seems to be driven by trans-Atlantic dreams with songs such as “America.” In an interview She Says the band claimed to listen to Simon & Garfunkel while writing and recording this album, and when they all first came to the United States they played Simon & Garfunkel’s “America” as their plane touched down. In recording, the band shook around amps until they broke and cut up a speaker to get a perfect roughing up of the generally clean guitar-driven songs. The ground covered with “Loom” may have been a bit too previously treaded, but the rough edges of these recordings really go a long way and what could have sounded safe or sugary, often plays as a legitimately fun, thumping and bouncing album instead.

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Brighton, UK based Fear of Men, first introduced in the US via last year’s much praised singles compilation “Early Fragments,” Now their much anticipated debut album “Loom” was released end of April on Kanine Records.

The title of the album both alludes to the interweaving textures that run throughout the record and references the darkness that hovers above much of Fear of Men’s output. Rather than simply marrying a handful of influences, Fear of Men designs their music from an almost uncomfortably personal place. Weiss broadcasts crippling disconnection, boredom and sexual dread with all the dour verve of a young Morrissey. The band flit between dire philosophical observations and listless melancholia, riding melodies that sentiments come off more like lazy sighs. The songs owe as much to the writing of Anais Nin or Fassbinder’s films as they do to the cold sonic atmospheres of the Chills or Broadcast. Classical instrumentation appears throughout “Loom”, warped and distorted alongside musical saws and backwards guitars, giving a sense of the imperfect to the album’s pristine pop melodies.

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