The first CD All Years Leaving ('04) by the British guitar band The Stands sounded shamelessly retro. The semi-acoustic folk rock sound of The Beatles and The Byrds in 1965, the harmonica and the snarling vocals of Bob Dylan: rarely have the influences been so easily traced. Nobody in England was fussy about that; After all, nowhere is the (own) pop culture so cherished as in the United Kingdom.
With the successor Horse Fabulous, The Stands are taking an important step towards their own sound. This is where the influence of producer Tom Rothrock (Elliott Smith, Foo Fighters) has probably been felt. He provided a very dry but warm sound, with the tastefully applied wind and string arrangements as icing on the cake. Still do the melodies and the chord progress' s invariably thoughts go back to the music of a few decades ago. As long as that produces gems such as the polyphonic I Will Journey Home and the beautiful instrumental Mountains Blue And The World Through My Window, we cannot complain about that. (MS)more
