Perspiration is an admirable asset of course but it is inspiration that elevates the truly special bands above the merely workaday. The question then, do Driving By Night have that uncommon creativity?

‘Departure’ might not represent a resounding affirmation of the band’s creative capacities but it at least demonstrates that they shouldn’t be counted out of the race just yet. Throwing anthemic shapes, this wedge of mournful indie-rock is beautifully crafted, the initial spark becoming an inferno before raging its way into an an eminently epic chorus. They know their way about a song alright but again lack that quirk that might set them apart from the hordes of impassioned indie-rockers. That is not to discount the abundant promise displayed here, ‘Departure’ finely choreographed even if the moves remain a touch too familiar. Francis Jones

Perspiration is an admirable asset of course but it is inspiration that elevates the truly special bands above the merely workaday. The question then, do Driving By Night have that uncommon creativity?

‘Departure’ might not represent a resounding affirmation of the band’s creative capacities but it at least demonstrates that they shouldn’t be counted out of the race just yet. Throwing anthemic shapes, this wedge of mournful indie-rock is beautifully crafted, the initial spark becoming an inferno before raging its way into an an eminently epic chorus. They know their way about a song alright but again lack that quirk that might set them apart from the hordes of impassioned indie-rockers. That is not to discount the abundant promise displayed here, ‘Departure’ finely choreographed even if the moves remain a touch too familiar. Francis Jones

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DOWNLOAD: ‘STRENGTH IN NUMBERS’, ‘THE SPIKE’, ‘DRUGS’.
FOR FANS OF: THE GOSSIP, THE VERVE.

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DOWNLOAD: ‘STRENGTH IN NUMBERS’, ‘THE SPIKE’, ‘DRUGS’.
FOR FANS OF: THE GOSSIP, THE VERVE.

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DOWNLOAD: ‘FUEGO!’, ‘COMIN’ HOME’.
FOR FANS OF: TOM WAITS, DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS.

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DOWNLOAD: ‘FUEGO!’, ‘COMIN’ HOME’.
FOR FANS OF: TOM WAITS, DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS.

The brief ‘Ella’ is a lament for days past, an old-fashioned 1920s music hall romp. A few tracks along and we’ve got the electronica cabaret of ‘Second Rhythm’. This French trio certainly know how to bewilder their audience and perhaps the only characteristic that unites the various tracks is their uniform oddness. An undoubtedly challenging album, 7 Guitars With A Cloud Of Milk is also on occasion entertaining. Still, it’s not the sort of album you can become comfortable with, every time it threatens to hit a groove it immediately turns face and hares off in another direction, hankering for something new, be it the hip-hop of ‘Purée Hip-Hop’, the drum ‘n’ bass propulsion of ‘Sam Et Pilou’ or the baroque instrumental that is ‘Full Blast’.

With 18 tracks in just under 40 minutes there are as many mis-steps here as there are moments of real musical clarity. Still, when they get it right Gablé are intriguing and enjoyable, note closer ‘Drunk Fox In London’, a surreal short story whose initial chiming guitars are crushed beneath a barrage of fierce percussion and a sound that could only be described as a computer having a nervous breakdown. It’s the sort of high-octane freakery that could quite easily find itself as the centrepiece of an episode of The Mighty Boosh. If only Gablé could rein in the lunacy a touch and make some concessions to cohesion they might have created something marvellous, as it stands 7 Guitars With A Cloud Of Milk is slightly more baffling than brilliant. Francis Jones

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DOWNLOAD: ‘NO ONE KNOWS WHY’, ‘MISERABLE SONG’, ‘DRUNK FOX IN LONDON’.
FOR FANS OF: EARLY MERCURY REV, MOLDY PEACHES

The brief ‘Ella’ is a lament for days past, an old-fashioned 1920s music hall romp. A few tracks along and we’ve got the electronica cabaret of ‘Second Rhythm’. This French trio certainly know how to bewilder their audience and perhaps the only characteristic that unites the various tracks is their uniform oddness. An undoubtedly challenging album, 7 Guitars With A Cloud Of Milk is also on occasion entertaining. Still, it’s not the sort of album you can become comfortable with, every time it threatens to hit a groove it immediately turns face and hares off in another direction, hankering for something new, be it the hip-hop of ‘Purée Hip-Hop’, the drum ‘n’ bass propulsion of ‘Sam Et Pilou’ or the baroque instrumental that is ‘Full Blast’.

With 18 tracks in just under 40 minutes there are as many mis-steps here as there are moments of real musical clarity. Still, when they get it right Gablé are intriguing and enjoyable, note closer ‘Drunk Fox In London’, a surreal short story whose initial chiming guitars are crushed beneath a barrage of fierce percussion and a sound that could only be described as a computer having a nervous breakdown. It’s the sort of high-octane freakery that could quite easily find itself as the centrepiece of an episode of The Mighty Boosh. If only Gablé could rein in the lunacy a touch and make some concessions to cohesion they might have created something marvellous, as it stands 7 Guitars With A Cloud Of Milk is slightly more baffling than brilliant. Francis Jones

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘NO ONE KNOWS WHY’, ‘MISERABLE SONG’, ‘DRUNK FOX IN LONDON’.
FOR FANS OF: EARLY MERCURY REV, MOLDY PEACHES