93 Million Miles From The Sun - Northern Sky

Da muss Volker jetzt durch! Auch der zweite Blick zurück ins vorherige Jahr landet auf einer Band, die getrost mit dem Begriff "Shoegaze" tituliert werden darf. Die mittlerweile auf ein Duo (Nick Mainline und Rob Hogg) geschrumpften 93 Million Miles From The Sun hatte ich ohne große Resonanz bereits mit ihrem Debütalbum hier vorgestellt.

Auf "Northern Sky" schleichen die beiden Engländer auf den ersten Titeln deutlich behäbiger und in sich gekehrter dahin. Erst ab dem dritten Song "Before You Leave" melden sich Noise und Drone zurück in deren Sound und nun darf eher an Ride oder Swervedriver als an Slowdive gedacht werden. Im Verlauf von über einer Stunde mäandern die 10 Titel in epischer Breite durch repetitive Täler verhallten Gesangs, umgeben von himmelhohen Gitarrenwänden. Zumindest die Jungs von Drowned In Sound gehen diesen Weg liebend gerne mit (und bringen noch Namen wie Spaceman 3, Explosions in The Sky oder Can ins Gespräch) - sonst noch jemand? Außer Volker, dem "diese ganzen Shoegaze Revivalbands schon wieder auf den Senkel" gehen, selbstverständlich.

93MillionMilesFromTheSun - Time lasts forever by sounds like a dream

If 'Waiting There' and 'When You Come' set out Northern Sky's stall - slow carefully orchestrated build ups erupting into crushing maelstroms of white noise - then 'As Bright As The Sky' reveals a more subtle side to 93MillionMilesFromTheSun's make-up. Noble and Hogg's deft harmonies hark back to the days of Andy Bell and Mark Gardener, adding an ethereal touch to the drone-laden crescendo which guides them. Similarly, the pulsating loops that echo throughout 'Before You Leave' offer an insight into what Can and their ilk may have sounded like if conceived 40 years on.

Although comparisons to the likes of Spacemen 3 (circa Sound Of Confusion) or the Bravery, Repetition & Noise-era Brian Jonestown Massacre are inevitable, 93MillionMilesFromTheSun aren't averse to bending the rules slightly. Take the instrumental mid-point 'Tall Buildings In Large Cities'. Here Noble and Hogg employ a simple chord progression that builds then peaks into a kaleidoscopic wall of noise like Explosions In The Sky's 'Six Days At The Bottom Of The Ocean'. It's a brief diversion but one that settles the nerves for the heavily distorted couplet of 'All You've Found You've Left Behind' and 'Time Lasts Forever'. Both rise, soar and explode in equal measures, the latter erupting furiously before the soothing 'Echoes' offers another brief respite.

By the time 'Sonic Assault' brings Northern Sky to a close, its title self-explanatory as surging guitars collide with watery synths, 93MillionMilesFromTheSun's mission is accomplished in devastating fashion. Inspired by such nondescript surroundings, Northern Sky is a colossal statement that might not make Doncaster the epicentre of fashion just yet, but is certain to open a few eyes and ears to a part of the world generally dismissed by all but its inhabitants.

(drownedinsound.com)

a short promotional film for 93millionmilesfromthesun from bryan crane on Vimeo.