Saxon Shore

Item: Be a Bright Blue
Author: BW Diederich

Be a Bright Blue

(2002)

Reviewed by BW Diederich

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Label Broken Factory RecordsDecapolisNovember 2002

ambient post-rock

Saxon Shore are a new instrumental band with ties to the Cut and Paste Collective. Their debut is titled Be a Bright Blue and is out on Broken Factory Music.

Instrumental music is tricky. I find myself drawn more and more to music without vocals because of the stark nakedness of the emotion in instrumental music. I love bands like godspeed you! black emperor, or Stars of the Lid, or Windy and Carl. Bands that have heart and that take their ideas to the logical conclusion. All of those bands go in vastly different directions, but all are memorable for the ocean of sound and extraneous feelings they invoke.

Saxon Shore are well on their way to greatness. So far though, they haven't quite achieved it. They have the heart, and the emotion is there, but something is missing. This is a record of simple beauty, and while I'm a big fan of simplicity and minimalism, the sound they seem to be going for is one that requires layers and subtlety as opposed to bare simplicity.

As for a comparison, I want to compare this band to someone besides Unwed Sailor, but they mine such similar territory it's hard to think of anyone else. I've seen American Analogue Set mentioned, and there are times I can hear that, but mostly this sounds like a precursor to the greatness of those bands. To these ears this album has more potential for greatness than actual greatness.

I want to like this record more than I do, because it's by no means a bad record. It is, in fact, a really good record, but I'm bothered that this group (duo) of kids who are so obviously capable of making thoroughly mind blowing music seem stuck at the level of imitation, albeit really good imitation.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh, perhaps! This IS their first album after all. That's the whole point of this review, though! I'm just disappointed. I think these kids have better songs in them, memorable songs. I listened to the record I don't know how many times, and there are riffs and phrases that stick out, but no songs as a whole. It all runs together, and not in the way a godspeed piece runs together. These 7 songs run together and then sort of disappear entirely.

And now I feel like a jerk. I wanted to give this record a better review, and I started to write a review praising them like all the other reviews I've read; but the fact is, I think these kids are capable of more, and I want to hear that more. I recommend the album to anyone who likes Unwed Sailor or similar instrumental bands. Songs sans vocals but chock full of emotion; I totally agree with that sentiment, I just think there's more waiting for us. So to the kids in Saxon Shore, this isn't a bad review by any means, just a call to action of sorts. I think your debut is really good, but I'm still waiting for you to completely floor me, because I know you are completely capable of it.