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'Holes
In The Wall'
is one of the most impressive debut albums of 2002. Fact. The Electric
Soft Parade are a couple of sullen, posh kids from Brighton,
but they may just have saved British pop music. Incredible,
really, because 'Holes In The Wall' is one of the most
monumentally clueless records ever - it gives itself away every five seconds but
somehow comes up stinking of roses. Alex and Tom White
love music a lot. More specifically, they are totally in awe of a whole slew of
negligible c-grade, 1990s, corporate-Indie bands, but in striving to emulate the
likes of Geneva, Air, Merz
and Six By Seven, they have accidentally transcended all of
their idols to come up with a record which redefines British guitar music. While the rest
of Britain has been more than happy to completely erase the mere concept of 'Indie'
from our collective memories in the face of an onslaught of American tat, the Electric
Soft Parade have held their odd belief that the post-Britpop comedown
was all that ever mattered. Still in their teens, the late 1990s is all that the
Whites know, and once you've joined them in that bizarre world
where the release of 'Urban Hymns' marked the beginning of
musical history, you're ready to believe that this is the sound of the empire
striking back. 'Start
Again' - the monolithic
opening volley on 'Holes In The Wall' - finds ESP
artlessly bashing the epic button without sounding like pompous Ashcroftian baboons.
It's a gargantuan piece of psychedelic pop theatre that wheels off into the
rampaging 'Empty At The End' - like Radiohead's
'Pablo Honey' album but good. Can they keep it up? Yes, they
can. From here on
in, the hits just keep on coming. Even a nine-minute blow out on 'Silent
To The Dark' can't entirely mask the fact that it's a totally awesome
tune, 'This Given Line' and 'Biting The Souls Of My
Feet' accidentally resurrect the ghost of Syd Barrett-era
Pink Floyd, but no sooner do you think that you've got them
nailed than they're off riding the Super Furry Animals'
psychedelic chariot to Pluto with the oddly, low-key closer 'Red Balloon
For Me.' If you're one
of those people who thought Supergrass' 'In It For The
Money' was one of the greatest albums of the modern age - you're
correct, incidentally - then 'Holes In The Wall' marks the
moment at which that particular moment of genius finally met a sympathetic
match. It's got melody, it's got invention and it rocks like a beast. This is the Electric
Soft Parade. This is what they can do. You're going to love it. By
Jim Wirth, 19/01/02
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