Whenever I receive some unexpected release from a hitherto unknown artist, I cannot help but smile, mostly due to the realization that some people actually read my reviews, a source of occasional pride, I must admit in all humility. Jim is a multi-instrumentalist from Limerick, Ireland who, like millions of others around the world, clearly remember that fateful morning when the Challenger shuttle exploded barely 73 seconds into its upward flight. Inspired by that tragic event and the human urge to boldly go beyond the embrace of our atmosphere has always been a proper source for any inspiration and explains full well why space rock remains a continuously vital sub genre of progressive music.
All space exploration starts off with a spectacular launch, and “Cosmic Law and Order” keeps the tradition alive and well, with a powerful lift off. A thunderous drum shuttle gets the boosters ignited, a driving bass quadrant drawing the orbital line and the throttling guitar riffs settling into full overdrive mode. Once beyond Earth’s gravity, the craft switches into a galactic swoon, where the mellotrons and synths join in like a spectral choir, laying down the foundation for an assortment of shifts and deviations that define the ride. Spoken theatrics à la Arthur Brown offer an unconventional slant to the entire proceedings, with a synth blaring into the void, cursing the human foibles that keep us all in our rather comfortable prison.
A reptilian mood slips into orbit on the angry “Xenocide”, a bluesier tangent that infuses a Black Sabbath-like tinge to the brutal angst, a rolling bass guitar settling scores and an anxious vocal from guest David Reece that spares no prisoners. The saxophone (Robbie Costelloe) cannot succeed in softening the blow, as the rustling keyboards do some major brain damage. The final section gets hot and sweaty, lumbering and heavy drums from Keith McCoy, a welcome delight.
A punkier outlook takes shape on “A Counterblast to Astral Travel”, a chugging metalloid riff aided and abetted by Reece ‘s manhandling of the microphone on one hand, channeling Bob Calvert’s eccentricity perfectly, and then colliding with an acoustic rant that flings the arrangement into an unexpected extreme of manic despondency, a near-spoken rebuttal of the sanctity of time ad space. A thoroughly entertaining sliver of insanity, as expressed by Jim’s sizzling guitar solo.
The three-part “Sleeping Generation” suite forms the core of this release, creating as such a novel departure with a variety of twists, as Jim handles all the instruments including the vocalizations. The Challenger disaster serves as the momentous inspiration for the lyrical content, a highly personal take on how lofty ideals for mankind vanished with less than 2 minutes, leaving humanity to ponder a withdrawal from space travel that has been in effect ever since. The sedate electronics come as a most welcome distraction, as if a sense of serious thought has taken over, a reflection that only provides subtlety of words and sounds. The lyrical content is substantially contemporary , the JFK snippet particularly alluring, but the clever musicality is what appeals the most, the bass mirroring the melancholia, the e-piano droplets meditating on a lost chance to further or even improve our knowledge, perhaps even regressing in many ways if one cares to look at our present condition. The atmosphere is forlorn, discouraged and broken-hearted. “We focused on the fiction- got blindsided by the science”. The sweeping symphonics on part 2 are highlighted by delicate acoustic guitar playing that is off the charts, the Ronald Reagan fragment serving as a lesson in acceptance and a eulogy for a time when innocence began evaporating into the mist of eternity. The third section describes a sense of abject finality in our common failures, of dreams replaced by opinion-based nonsense that favors the endlessly easy road and not the hardship of labor, as brilliantly expressed by Kennedy. The electricity of the guitar joins in with the elaborate anthem, where assorted orchestral electronics, a redolent bass and a respectful rhythmic alliance painstakingly carry the burden of humanity on already exhausted shoulders. ‘The vehicle apparently exploded’ in 1986 , where are we now? Perhaps time has come to dare to dream again.
Two bonus tracks, first up the bruising bass fueled beast “For the Dying Empire”, a sensational five-minute rambler, buzzing like a frantic wasp bent on pure destruction , swept along by dense electronic cascades and a raspy fretboard barrage that rekindles the fight. Serving as a possible recharging of desire to fight the correct cause once again, Jim detonates a bluesy solo slipping straight into the golden void of the universe , searching for salvation. Fantastic tune.
“January Sky” is nothing less than a eulogy to those daring astronauts who pursued only the most glorious of human desires, the knowledge of the unknown and the ensuing betterment of our collective. After all, wisdom is just another word for the divine light, called it by all the names you want, in the end, truth can never be just a varying opinion. ‘Nothing ends here, our hopes and our journeys continue”.
Excellent addition to the space rock catalog, already littered with glowing orbs that stand the test of time. Please continue Jim, the secretary will not disavow any of your actions. Good luck.
4.5 Defiant explosions