Durham and Oxford collegiates MOTION THEORY did one full album in 2009 and have just issued this fresh sounding EP. It is several steps on in coherence and maturity from the freshman blast.
Music fandom in the shape of a metal-regressing Radiohead disciple is the dominant but not destructive sound. "IT'S NOT AS DARK AS THAT, FRIEND" is amateur in the sense of "working for love" and I don't really see a space for their current work in a commercial market.
Nonetheless, they do have that honesty of performance that local scenes and small venues cherish - to our general and mutual enrichment. It works at a personal direct level (see the video) but I’m doubtful if this repertoire or approach is going to get much attention through remote sources.
The opening tingle of the first song captures immediate attention. Ears that can hear that as a good start can’t be a million miles off the mark. Rock primitivism gradually wins the track over though, with the standard dynamic climax delivering the thunder and lightning that we often enjoy at festivals without necessarily wanting to take it home for later appreciation. "Dead Reckoning" is a mournful, well sung tune with a notable feature in Jamie Wesley’s near-preposterous Satriani-style guitar solo.
"Anima", listed as live, is all the better for being minimally set. It features restrained but skilful acoustic guitar, a touch of piano, a late-entry tambourine for percussive texture and Dom Main's very good singing voice. It shares best-track status with closing song "Forgotten Girl", where early Radiohead mopishness is more evident than the KERRANG! tendency.
In fourth song "Sure It's Chaos, But It's Ours" the band are probably showing their natural inclinations most clearly. I pondered a Fripp reference as the intro spooled out but I’m not sure that MOTION THEORY are that sophisticated yet. I have a feeling that sudden full immersion in a rock scene like Leeds would provide the electricity needed to supercharge this OK stuff into the blinding righteousness required for their self-ascribed description as "alt-prog-rock".
