I’m sure this review will spark comments from the if-you-don’t-like-this-kind-of-music-why-are-you-reviewing-it brigade, but I guess that’s become all too predictable. ‘Up In Them Guts’ is my first experience of Planes Mistaken For Stars on record, having only heard odd MP3s previously. I did catch them on their last UK tour and wasn’t immediately impressed – hence why I’m reviewing this record in a bid to give them a second chance. Except I now understand that this album probably isn’t the best starting point for any potential fan, as ‘Up In Them Guts’ is a twisted and dark record that is as baffling as it is difficult.
From the opening groans of ‘To All Mothers’, this immediately springs out as being a troubled record to immediately get into. It’s not the production, which suits this fine, but for me I’m having a lot of trouble with the vocals. They appear too low in the mix and the growling deep-throated (ahem) style is tricky to decipher at times. At times this works really well, on ‘Glassing’ the “we are all getting fucked now†refrain is disturbing as it should be. But then on ‘Dancing On The Face Of The Panther’ the vocal style doesn’t suit at all. It’s near impossible to work out what is being said, making it tricky to really get to the depths of what is going on.
I’m sure fans of the band will rate this album extremely highly, but I’ve given this weeks of listening and I still can’t fathom if it is genius or merely dire. The rumbling of the bass and the hard-hitting drums are spectacular, but the vocals stop me from enjoying this as much as I probably could. So I now await the usual flaming from the usual anonymous posters who assume because they ‘get’ a certain release makes them better than the writer. The point for me is that I gave this a try and I didn’t like it. And if that makes me a bad person then I’m off straight down to Hell…
www.pmfs.net
No Idea
Paul