On paper, you wouldn't think industrial Lancashire town Burnley had much of a rock'n'roll heritage. Think of the area and you generally reference ugly things like the inevitable mill and factory industry of the past and (worse) the strength of the BNP in the vicinity. In terms of musical movers and shakers, well, there was The Notsensibles, famous for classic punk anthem "I'm In Love With Margaret Thatcher", most of Chumbawamba originate there and, er, that's about it really.
However, dig deeper into the East Lancs hinterland and you confront a history deep in folklore dating back to the days of the Witch Trials and the civil war. It's all wrapped up in a weird, rugged landscape on the western edge of the unforgiving Pennines and at some stage was bound to unleash an unlikely musical force from beneath brooding Pendle Hill.
Well, the wait's over, for here come THE EARLIES, who admittedly also feature a couple of people from Manchester and partly these days reside/ record in the equally unforgiving West Texas landscape, but nevertheless go some way to putting modern day urban Lancashire on the map with their debut album "These Were The Earlies."
To be fair, the Americana they've been consuming has clearly left distinguishing marks, mind. Opening scene-setting sliver "In The Beginning" features tinkly bells, birdsong and refracted, stoned Beach Boys harmonies in just 26 seconds, and from there the folk-psychedelia gauntlet is thrown down, albeit very gently.
Second tune "One Of Us Is Dead" vividly expands on the theme. It's a lovely, bittersweet ode to mortality with a vocal from JP Lapham that sails extremely close to Mercury Rev territory over a drifting electro loop, swirly guitar and a burgeoning Moog symphony. Exotic and ethereal and no mistake.
From thereon in, it's a consistently fascinating (magic carpet) ride, and always tough to pin down. "Wayward Song", for instance, suggests Love-style baroque'n'roll wit its' woodwind-laced intro before oscillating wildly into something beautiful and neo-orchestral, while "25 Easy Pieces" finds odd, hymnal harmonies ushering in upright piano straight outta "After The Goldrush" and glitchy, rattlesnake percussion. It's a heady, cerebral, but always likeable concoction, vaguely akin to both State River Widening and some of the Moshi Moshi brigade.
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Elsewhere, atmosphere is king, not least on "Slow Man's Dream" and "Lows". The former actually lives up to its' title, drifting and yawning through a somnolent instrumental backdrop, while "Lows" conjures up the most fragile, vulnerable folktronica imaginable, with ghostly, Augustus Pablo-style melodica floating across the windscreen. Even when they get marginally more strident, like on the militant, droning majesty of "The Devil's Country" or the Byrds-herald-Joe Gibbs' insidiousness of favourite single "Morning Wonder" (one your reviewer has heard over countless PAs without even realising it was this lot), it's all deliciously memorable.
So, while "These Were The Earlies" may not exactly be the full-on Turf Moor meets Thirteenth Floor Elevators experience the geographical possibilities might suggest, there's still plenty here to suggest you make like the Early bird here. Sod the worm: it'll be the glittering musical prizes you'll be rewarded with if you make the effort in this case.
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