Album Review: Flying Saucer Attack – Instrumentals 2015
2 min read
15 years have passed since Bristol’s Flying Saucer Attack released their last album and as you can imagine things have changed a lot in time gone by. Released on Domino Records, Instrumentals 2015 is the long awaited return that all the fans of space rock, drone, shoegazing, and psychedelic have been waiting for.
David Pearce’s 8 year stint between 1992-2000 as Flying Saucer Attack produced some on the greatest experimental music of the decade. With the help of his girlfriend at the time, Rachel Brook who was also a member of Movietone, they released multiple albums and partook in various collaborations with bands of similar genres. In 1995 Brook left the band to focus on Movietone leaving Pearce the one and only member. Given the penchant that Pearce had for collaboration, it comes as a surprise that the new album consists solely of his creative talents.
Aspects from folk, rock and electronica are all evident, but Instrumentals 2015 really is a far cry from any of its influential genres. The album in its entirety is recorded at home using CD-R and tape, and the only instrument used by Pearce is guitar. There is evident variation in soundscapes but due to the length of many of the tracks and the fact that there is 15 of them, it tends to be quite a tiring affair. Pearce’s lo-fi approach pays homage to the original sentiment of Flying Saucer Attack in the 90’s. But maybe after a 15 year break, a new approach is needed.
The melancholy nature of Pearce’s previous works remain, but the album as a whole certainly falls short of the level that a lot of people will be hoping for. Expectations aside, the album remains to be a noble display of creative minimalism and fans of Flying Saucer Attack will be pleased to find that along with Instrumentals 2015, various other previous releases will be reissued on vinyl by Domino in the coming months.
