Up The Walls
Alternative/prog rock
"This album stands out both sonically and from a song writing perspective. Well and truly worthy of a listen"
The artist
Final Cut are comprised of 3 members. Our own Ian Astill fronts the band held up by the pillars that are Luke Chambers (bass) and Stanley Ross Doyle (Back Door Slam, Black Water Creek) on drums.
The album
Riding With The Captain
Riding with the captain opens up the album with a toe tapping, crotch slapping riff that lets you know it’s party time. An uncompromising verse slides you into an anthemic & shoutable Chorus. Atmospheric oohs and ahhs build a wall of unadulterated harmonic satisfaction leaving you well and truly invested. Rinse and repeat for the above to find yourself at a bridge that stops you in your tracks. A Bellamy/Morello-esq pitch shifted solo walks you home to the familiar chanting chorus. A great time complimented with a theme of run-soaked shame. Well worth a listen.
Mind The Gap
Lush, clean and shimmering stacked guitars illustrate the melancholic yet intoxicating picture while sky shattering bolts of lightning crash in via a well-placed tom fill. Delay-laden vocals carry you above the waves of sonic silences that punctuate the sheer space in this track. A heart breaking confession of “I know I could do better” resonates and identifies with you filling your head with sombre sense of anticipation. The second chorus feels vaguely familiar but it is capped off with haunting, reverb-drenched swelling guitar in the distance. A brief dalliance with the heart wrenching chorus pulls you into the spider’s nest that is a classical sounding rock solo that soars above the clouds into a slightly varied chorus vocal that climbs, falls then dumps you into the intro chorus. A full circle that leaves you too soon. Shimmering, shining splendiferous example of a rock ballad.
Rapture
Here we are, the dirty riffs have arrived. A slow and stompy intro that gets your blood pumping immediately. Enter the verse that feels like a friend encouraging you to do something you will later regret. The bridge is a filthy decent into a pit of swirling. The chorus of Rapture feels like a defiance piece…As if Muse decided to write a Rage Against The Machine song. But wait, there’s more… a Euphonium solo. Yes, a Euphonium. The solo has an almost Arabic feel to it and just as you feel like you understand it you are hurled back into the catchy chorus. This is one that will pull you into the pit.
Erased From Memory
This song is a hybrid of a classic rock riff that makes you want to drink a beer and a dirty dissonant riff that wants to steal your girl. A gritty and harsh feel in the verse is a stark contrast to the clean and polished chorus that hits you like a wall. March through another verse and chorus to bring you to this song’s centrepiece, the solo. This one of those solos that you sing along to as its very lyrical as well a solo should be. A lo fi section breaks the song up allowing you time breathe before those 2 riffs battle once more. This is one you will come back for.
Roll Ups
A compelling chord progression pushes you into this tune with a heavy tremolo effect and swelling symbols leading you into a more and more dark feeling landscape. A slide solo breaks the brief silence and lifts you atop a solid bass line. Rinse and repeat the above with a slightly varied verse and a more intense chorus followed by another slide solo.
Up The Walls
This song wears its influences well and truly on its sleeve. The intro bass is a synthy and distorted to create a prog feeling akin to bands like Muse and Porcupine Tree. A wall of sound hits you in the form of the catchy chorus. A Hysteria style piece breaks up the slower tempo of the song with an upbeat and moreish heavy feel. This section climaxes and dumps you straight back into the intro bassline whereby it falls of the face of the earth and begs you to re-listen. Up The Walls Is a perfect send off to a brilliantly written crafted album.
The verdict
Up the walls is a modern prog album that has elements of flat out rock n roll riffs, 90s ballad style chorus vocals and audio trickery found within the work of Audioslave, RAtM and Muse. This album stands out both sonically and from a song writing perspective. Well and truly worthy of a listen and even a few spots on a playlist.
If you like…
If you like the riffs of Muse, technicality of Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson and the grit of Priestess then you’ll very much enjoy Final Cut. Submit Pay The Bill next time though guys!
