Have you ever had a really messy party? You know the kind – where cans of cheap brew were drunk in abundance, many bottles of dubious plonk consumed (most of the wine hitting the carpet rather than the bottom of a wine glass), tobacco, fag ends, strange (possibly illegal) substances and indeterminate gunk crushed underfoot etc., etc.
Then you may be aware of some of the first feelings that can hit you the morning after, namely extreme brain-ache followed swiftly by the thought - “oh God, I’ve got to clean THAT up”. So you get out of bed and – lo and behold! Some kindly, benevolent soul has done… (sob)… a fine, FINE thing and tidied up your living quarters for you.
If its never happened to you well, that is a great shame. But if it has, you know you’ve got friends. Or at least one anyway. So its good to report that at last, this type of righteous, noble person has finally been celebrated in song – in CHRISTIANSILVA’s ‘Houseguests’. On this the London 4-tet sing - “Your friends are the ones who listen a lot, They trash your house and then stay to tidy up”. Clunky lines rhythmically but hey, who cares when the sentiments are as decent and overdue as that.
The song is taken from a 2 track promo to promote their soon to be released mini album (one supposes, the info on the press blurb is a bit sketchy – also the band’s website seems to be down as I write), and its pretty good all things considered. On both songs here the band has a satisfying overall sound, polished without being dull and leaning towards the lushly dramatic without being too angsty (I for one have had quite enough post millennial histrionica from the likes of Muse, Mars Volta et al).
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Chirstiansiva's main weaknesses at the moment as I see it, lie in the band's songwriting and composition skills - one is not overly grabbed by the lyrics (aside from the above) and the melodies and changes don’t feel as if they will linger in the mind long. But these are things that can be worked on – I wouldn’t mind hearing the band loosen up a bit and give more free rein to their musical expression. Also there is a humourous side here somewhere that could be brought forward I think.
So all in all a promising band certainly – they can play at my party. But only as long as they help with the clean up naturally. And bring their own booze.
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