Sunday 19 May 2013

alansmithee - Surplus

Single review by kev@thesoundofconfusion.co.uk


As promo CDs are often not tagged in iTunes, Apple seem intent on telling me that this CD is either 'If Tomorrow Never Comes' by Ronan Keeting or 'Mysterious Girl' by Peter Andre. It doesn't sound like the usual material we get from Glasgow's Flowers In The Dustbin label. But then their press release is unusual too: "After releasing 28 films, 9 TV episodes, 23 music videos and forming bands in the USA and Spain, Alan Smithee returns in his latest incarnation with 4 Livingston based musicians." Is this true? Is it confusing? Let us point out that Alan Smithee is a pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a particular work. Alan Smithee is a bit like Joe Bloggs or John Doe.

Buy what about alansmithee the band? Is this a disowned project by a famous musician? Is it heck. alansmithee are a band who've got spangly guitar tune on their hands, and one that nobody would disown; there should be no confusion about that. Inspired by The Velvet Underground, dEUS, Tame Impala and more, they take a piece of each and create a garage-psych track that's not quite like the bulk of the current garage scene. 'Surplus' is made of sharp, ringing guitars, shifting tempos, hazy effects and some neat lo-fi production. It sounds vintage and new at the same time, crossing the bridge from '60s garage, '90s alt-rock and current guitar bands. They can try their hand at as much myth-making as they like, but we're not pretending when we say that 'Surplus' is a top tune.



alansmithee's website

Pre-order the single

Catch them live:

Flowers In The Dustbin presents: alansmithee - Surplus single launch
Saturday, June 1, 2013 at 8:00pm
Official 13th Note, Glasgow, United Kingdom





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