Whole Sky Monitor - 'Just Let Me Talk To Her' (Firebomb Radio) Released 07/02/05

You will either laud this album as a multi-layered, slow burning classic, or alternatively dismiss it as 40 minutes of monotonous, awkward lo-fi. Unfortunately it's the latter, as ‘Just Let Me Talk To Her’ disappoints just a bit too regularly, as attempts at introspective melancholy all too often cascade into dirge.

‘Be Beautiful’ is a prominent example, the repeated refrain “Everybody loves you/you are young and beautiful” carrying the song just shy of six agonisingly long minutes. Dull, uninspiring lyrics in this vein hamper the whole record. Singer John Parkes staccato-esque delivery on ‘The Chosen’ makes for tiresome listening, with the perceived social commentary of “We are a bitter nation/and we are fighting for peace and justice” sounding weak and irrelevant.

However, ‘Basic Rock Song’ and ‘End of the Year’ are intense, sweeping efforts that recall The Doves’ ‘Lost Souls’ , and ‘We Grow Up’ deserves the Radiohead comparisons it drew when released as an EP. Whole Sky Monitor’s better efforts shine with the layered dexterity and dry emotion of fellow northerners Elbow, while acoustic lament ‘Fireships’  will sound familiar to anyone aware of I Am Kloot’s material.

Unfortunately, the moments when they actually pull-off the serious, affecting melancholy they so.phpire to, it only underlines the mediocrity and waywardness of the album’s majority. For a Leeds based group, lifting the title of Leeds FC anthem “Marching on Together” (on ‘The Chosen’) is downright cheeky and surely no coincidence - a royalties cheque to the skint Elland Road club should address the situation. “Welcome to utopia” ‘Basic Rock Song’ announces, “All the girls are six foot tall” - this album is no utopia, and any girl can use make up to disguise what’s really underneath.