Copenhagen is on fire right now and becoming one of Europe's prime locations for discovering top quality new bands. Silver 6 are no exception, in fact they could be one of the best of all. They make a form of alternative rock music that takes the best parts from history and knits them together into songs that occasionally stun. There's unlikely to be a better opening couplet all year than 'Are We Lovers' and 'Wide Awake'. The former presenting a repetitive, droning bassline with a powerful vocal and a sound that combines the worlds of post-punk with shoegaze; it's a very special song. 'Wide Awake' perhaps betters it, taking 13th Floor Elevators and early Verve and blending the two into one of the most vital and monumental psych-rock tracks of the year.
It's a near impossible song to follow, so the band wisely change direction and head into the gospel-inspired 'Hold On', a slow yet beautiful song that taps into the same influences as Spacemen 3 but uses them in a less drug-fuelled way. This palate-cleanser allows them to become electrified again on the kaleidoscopic post-punk of 'See Right Through Me' which also brings in elements of blues-rock and a healthy layer of scuzz. 'Can't Get You Out' almost sounds like 'Are We Lovers Part II' as the same repetitive bass and vocal style are used again. It's not laziness though, and it actually imparts a nice continuity to the record, plus when you hit on a winning formula it's worth using more than once. So long as it doesn't become too regular that is, and we've already learnt that Silver 6 have enough ideas for this not to be the case.
They give us more post-punk inspired sounds with 'Dreamy Dream', yet they somehow manage to turn the track into a very distant cousin of 'Tomorrow Never Knows' which is a little unexpected but welcome nonetheless, and also that first Verve album springs to mind as the guitar wanders off into the ether. This mammoth, nine-minute centrepiece will also take some following, so once again the band strip things right back with the hymnal guitar and vocals tune 'Time For War', a song that could have come from latter-day Spiritualized. It works brilliantly. It's only a brief respite, as the electric guitars are fired up once more for the driving psych that is 'Would You Do It Again', one of many masterful examples of their genre that Silver 6 include on this album. Ending with 'Sleeping With A Broken Heart' you can again hear the influence of Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized but Silver 6 mark the song with enough of their own identity. 'First Time Won't Kill You' is going to be a challenge for the band to surpass, they've set the bar very high.
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