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The Perishers
Victorious
(Nettwerk)
First Appeared in The Music Box, August 2007, Volume 14, #8
Written by John Metzger
With a slow, reflective refrain that alludes to the Velvet Underground’s
Pale Blue Eyes and vocals that evoke Matthew Ryan doing his best impression
of Bruce Springsteen, Midnight Skies — the lead track from The Perishers’
latest endeavor Victorious — begins in a rather inconspicuous fashion.
Quietly ponderous, it seems better suited to being used as mood-setting music
for the sun-baked rural roads of the fictional Texas town in Friday Night
Lights than it does as the opening statement of an effort by a Scandinavian
band. As it unwinds and the guitars begin to twinkle, however, the tune blossoms
into an anthem, making it clear that The Perishers has opted to embrace rather
than forsake its love of the once-mighty Travis.
For the most part, Victorious is an album that seems as if it is stuck
in time. It sounds as if it were made in the era in which Radiohead became too
weird for the mainstream and a myriad of other outfits swept into the fray by
mirroring the success of Creep. Nothing on Victorious really moves
beyond the workings of Travis’ The Man Who and The Invisible Band
— or Coldplay’s hit single Yellow, for that matter. But, it doesn’t have
to. Although The Perishers employs a well-worn formula, its passion as well as
the startling beauty of its delivery allow the music to transcend its borrowed
atmospheres. From the bubbly, Cure-inspired bass patterns that underscore Carefree to the jangly jubilation of the title track to the melancholy
loneliness that fills Never Bloom Again, The Perishers ponders the
various stages of relationships in ways that are very easy to like.
Victorious isn’t flashy. Nor is it unique, and The Perishers’ lyrics
occasionally read like heart-on-the-sleeve blog postings. Victorious,
however, isn’t meant to be cerebral. It’s all about fusing words and music to
conjure moods and emotions, and at its best, The Perishers accomplishes this as
well as anyone.  ½
Victorious is available
from Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
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For UK orders, please
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
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