A torrent of indie power pop.
‘Life’ surges with indie, pop and rock, rich with melodies, hooks and choruses. Described as an “international supergroup” The Salt Collective combines the 1980s French band Salt who are Stéphane Schuck on guitars, drummer Benoit Lautridou and bassist Fred Quentin. Guesting on this record is Richard Lloyd, co-founder of Television. Perhaps more familiar to AUK readers will be another guest, Wilco’s Pat Sansome. They are joined by Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws and from the dBs Juliana Hatfield, Matthew Sweet, Peter Holsapple, Gene Holder & Will Rigby. Completing the guest list are Susan Cowsill Faith Jones. Big credit for pulling everything, and everyone, together goes to producer Chris Stamey.
Described as an “international supergroup” The Salt Collective combines the 1980s French band Salt who are Stéphane Schuck on guitars, drummer Benoit Lautridou and bassist Fred Quentin. They are joined by Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws and from the dBs Juliana Hatfield, Matthew Sweet, Peter Holsapple, Gene Holder & Will Rigby. Completing the guest list are Susan Cowsill Faith Jones. Big credit for pulling everything, and everyone, together goes to producer Chris Stamey.
‘Life’ is both the album’s title and theme. Despite chaos, upheaval and uncertainty The Salt Collective never give up hope for a better life. A distant tinny voice announces the powerful opener ‘Asylum’, a pulsating swirl of futuristic psychedelia. If you do not ride that wave, it will be hard not to get swept up in the urgency of Hatfield’s vocals on ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ where Lloyd also makes his presence felt. That breakneck speed rarely lets up as Sansome takes over on ‘Not Going Back’, another frantic mix of harmonies and guitar solos. ‘The Pebble in My Hand’ has a riff that reverberates long after the song has finished. There its just so much going on that it leaves this listener yearning for a breather. That does come with ‘Another Bus Coming’ featuring Caws and a reminder of his band Nada Surf. The more relaxed pace allows the quality of musicianship to flourish.
If the power pop and indie rock is The Salt Collective’s natural home, the more complex ‘Dream Inside Me’ loses direction slightly becoming almost dirge-like, similarly ‘Spacewalk 2008’. Producer Stamey joins in on the final two tracks which in a way summarise the album. ‘I Knew You So Well’ and ‘Making It Up as We Go Along’ both skip from harmonising pop to complex indie rock.
At its best everything clicks to create an impressive soundscape but there are points where the record overwhelms.
