Back catalogue: Post Rock/Experimental

Review: It's Squid, but maybe not as you knew them in short form. While musi-cally not a million miles from the earliest samples we had from the band, Bright Green Field is a different place that we find them in. An "imaginary cityscape", as the outfit have apparently put it, which is home to a multitude of things - people, events, movements, memories.

So whereas before things took a pretty intimate, even domesticated lyr-ical slant, here the scope is much greater. Track titles like 'G.S.K.' should be enough to prove the point (a not-so-subtle nod to Big Pharma giant GlaxmoSmithKline). Elsewhere themes range from aggressive propa-ganda of right wing politics to physical space itself. An outfit real-ising what can be done with the reach of their voice (or maybe just fi-nally releasing it), while remaining true to the punk, art rock, jazz fusion you were hoping for from this confident Bristolian debut.

Review: It's been a boom period for British post-punk, but with more than five years passing since the craze hit its peak, it's become easier to separate the wheat from the chaff and recognise those who are here to stay and those who had very little to sustain any interest. Squid are here to stay, having blossomed from their shouty beginning into one of the most compelling British bands of the past ten years, with genre-defying qualities and boundless creative spirit. This new album is about evil, nine stories whose protagonists reckon with cults, charisma and apathy. Real and imagined characters wading into the dark ocean between right and wrong. Recorded at Church Studios in Crouch End with Marta Salogni and Grace Banks and Dan Carey on additional production, it's a real gem with a real chance of being up for nomination at the next Mercury Prize ceremony.

Review: Squid return to Warp with O Monolith, amping up the indie festival favourites' new penchant for fast, hardcore jangle-jams peppered with electronic glitchings and odd subject matters. Bright Green Field laid the formula at our feet, but we're certain it'll be O Monolith that best represents Ollie Judge and co.'s newly impassioned, kooky sound. Still, the playful song structures and exclaimed vocals remain present. New highlights like 'Undergrowth' capture it best: raucous blary horn sections, frightening choruses, and a sound that evokes that of a hellish circus, all make this one a rather enigmatic, intelligent listen. We'd expect nothing less from Squid.

Review: There's no 'difficult second album' syndrome evidence on Squid's sophomore full-length. While it lacks the forthright, math rock and post-punk-inspired immediacy of the Brighton band's acclaimed full-length debut, the density, inventiveness and experimentation that marks out O Monolith more than makes up for it. For proof, check recent single 'Swing (In a Dream)', a wall of sound affair that builds through approaching waves of instrumentation (first picturesque 16-bit synths and acoustic guitars, then grooves, trumpet solos and finally grizzled guitars), the laidback post-punk-funk of low-slung treat 'Undergrowth', and the skittish, jazz-flecked, layered soundscape that is 'The Blades', where squally horn solos and dense alt-rock guitars catch the ear.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


It's been a boom period for British post-punk, but with more than five years passing since the craze hit its peak, it's become easier to separate the wheat from the chaff and recognise those who are here to stay and those who had very little to sustain any interest. Squid are here to stay, having blossomed from their shouty beginning into one of the most compelling British bands of the past ten years, with genre-defying qualities and boundless creative spirit. This new album is about evil, nine stories whose protagonists reckon with cults, charisma and apathy. Real and imagined characters wading into the dark ocean between right and wrong. Recorded at Church Studios in Crouch End with Marta Salogni and Grace Banks and Dan Carey on additional production, it's a real gem with a real chance of being up for nomination at the next Mercury Prize ceremony.