SMALL ENCLOSED AREA is about right. The four tracks on this, their third release, rarely stray beyond the standard aggressively fuzzed chords and punching drum sounds of your noble but standard workhorse rock band. Arrangements consist of dropping in more stuff as the track goes on, swapping between reflective and demented moods, building towards that head shaking frenzy at the end. Tunes are picked out like stepping stones in the flood – one step at a time towards the edge, with pauses to look up for direction.
The best features come from inventive but widely spaced guitar embellishments that show off Blair Fraser and Richard Marshall as talents who can still add something to the standard formula. You can hear the passion and the delight in being able to put it together for the show. But you've also got to note that in over 20 minutes of music there's a lot of routine filling-in between the good bits. The best track, by a mile, "Bomb Alsaka" is also the shortest. At 2 minutes 46 seconds it covers everything that SMALL ENCLOSED AREA do in the remaining three tracks. It’s tight, exciting, and squallingly guitarish. More info on the Elgin band is at www.smallenclosedarea.com
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