Word: shaw
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...Cranes do not list the lyrics to their new album Wings of Joy. Perhaps lyricist Alison Shaw does not wish to make her personal thoughts known to the listener, which would also explain the virtual incomprehensibility of her soft, high vocals. Or maybe she really isn't saying anything after...
Hailing from southern England, this new alternative band has created music that could be somewhat intriguing if it were not so infuriating and utterly meaningless. Shaw's vocals complement the mysterious sound of Wings of Joy, but she uses her voice only to blend with the menacing guitars and hypnotic rhythm of piano and drums. The mood is eerie, and sounds unique. But the words, the thoughts and the meaning simply fade away into a perverse swirl of annoying sound. This album is mood music for masochists...
...Cranes weave a musical spell strangely reminiscent of David Lynch's bewildering and beloved town of Twin Peaks. A frightening thought perhaps, but Wings of Joy will send visions of Audrey and Agent Cooper dancing through your head. Alison Shaw's vocals also bear an astounding resemblance to those of Twin Peaks own Julee Cruise. Merits of the show aside, do we really need another soundtrack...
Unfortunately, "Starblood" offers no reprieve from the surrounding insanity of the fourth and sixth songs on Wings of Joy. It can only be described as a twisted tribal chant driven by the beat of Jim Shaw's drums ad made even more irritating by Alison Shaw's infantile vocals. Several other tracks on Wings of Joy also feature Jim Shaw on piano, always with rather painful results...
...That's what I like about Shaw--he solves all the mysteries in the first act." This gospel according to a self-styled critic sitting behind this reviewer misses an essential truth about George Bernard Shaw: there is never meant to be a mystery in his plays. In the Lyric Stage's production of You Never Can Tell, the expected surprises and impossible coincidences are an integral part of the whole plot...