CurveCountry of origin:England Type of music generally:Crunchy shoegazer alternative rock with ethereal vocals Status:Most recent release, The Way of Curve (remasters, 2004) See also:Curve's site Comparisons:Other shoegazer bands; they are the clear precursors of Garbage, Ruby, and similar bands Covers/own material:Own General comments:Urgent but beautiful ethereal vocals poised against driving, crunchy guitars. (Neile) Recommended first album:Cuckoo Recordings:
CuckooRelease info:1993—Anxious Records/Charisma Records—7243 8 39061 2 3 Availability:Wide on release Ecto priority:Highly recommended for fans of loud rock Group members:Toni Halliday, Dean Garcia Guest artists:Sally Herbert—violin on 2 tracks Produced by:Curve and Flood (7 tracks) and Curve and Steve Osborne (3 tracks) Comments:Despite some nice hooks, there's a certain sameness to the early tracks of this album, but it's hard to complain about that distinctive sound: the vocals foregrounded over heavy rock guitar. The later tracks seem to have a little more variety. Stand-outs are the slightly Indian-flavoured "All of One", the softer-sounding "Left of Mother", and the title and final track, "Cuckoo" which feels like probably the quintessential Curve track with its driving guitar and dreamy, whispery vocals. A band of interest to anyone who likes the contrast of crunch and ethereal vocals. (Neile) Come CleanRelease info:1998 Availability:Wide Ecto priority:Recommended for Curve fans Group members:Dean Garci—bass, drums, guitar, programming Guest artists:Sally Herbert—violin Produced by:Curve, Steve Osborne, Tim Simenon Comments:Obviously grown leaner and meaner while watching Garbage rise to the top on their patented formula, Curve returned with an album which half-fulfilled expectations, yet for the other half utterly failed them. It doesn't make sense that they would mix brilliant songs (which, even more than Garbage, demonstrated the potential of fusing dance with rock) as "Chinese Burn", "Coming Up Roses", "Alligators Getting Up" and "Recovery", with such dull, uninviting and sometimes painful fare as most of the rest, especially the horrible title track. One of my disappointments of the year. (afinney@ozonline.com.au) |
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