Album Review

Union Sound Set - Start/StopUnion Sound Set – Start/Stop

It feels to me that I am one of the only people who appreciated and can remember the band Prego even though they have only been away from the music scene for a year or so, well technically they are away from the music scene for good as due to a slight line up change and a few other technicalities the band have decided to change their name to Union Sound Set which in my eyes can only be a good thing as it gives Edd Simpson and co a totally fresh start within the music scene as in my eyes Prego were one of the most under rated bands in the UK who never got looked at no matter how good their songs were.

Union Sound Set have just released their debut album ‘Start/Stop’ and if you ambient sound scapes and general mellow instruments playing or bands such as Bloc Party, People In Planes, The Boxer rebellion and even Coldplay then you are going to love the debut album from these guys as it is crammed with nearly an hour of beautiful music spread over 11 songs.

The first time you listen to ‘Start/Stop’ it will just breeze past you and not much will stand out to you but after each and every listen after you will start to recognise the potential of certain and songs and before you know it, bam you become addicted to certain songs and find yourself listening to those over and over again whilst ignoring the rest of the album and then you give the album a listen again and a different set of songs start to stick out.

The album opens with ‘My Current State [Is Your Latest Objective] and I feel the 5minute opener really sets the pace for the rest of the album with its softly spoken and gentle instrumental ways, it’s not going to be a song that you find yourself listening to again and again but it does give you a real feel of what Union Sound Set are all about.

‘Cause And Resolve’ is the bands next single which is due for release on the 29th November and it is fantastic, it starts off very slow but builds up into beautiful soundscapes and vocals after the 45seconds mark and as the song progresses it is forever building up and breaking down in excellent style.

‘Trailing’ is a big and loud song that will stand out to you after a couple of listens. ‘Here’s To You’ is my current favourite track on the album it starts off sounding really emotional and as the song progresses Will Simpson sings “I’m not scared, I’m not scared” over and over again haunting over the soft atmospheric soundscapes. ‘Hiding Places’ is one of the main highlights on the album and happens to be the first single Union Sound Set released and the song is crammed full of style and is so pleasing on the ears, the song may come across quite simple but it is so catchy at the same time.

As the album progresses the songs start to sound bigger and heavier for example ‘The Longest Calm’ which is track number 8 is so much louder than any of the previous songs and ‘Answers’ also follows on the loudness in places.

The album closes with ‘Waiting Minds’ which finishes in an epic instrumental way with powerful guitar riffs, big paced drum beats and overall pure lovely music to the ears.

‘Start/Stop’ is one of the most listenable debut albums that I have heard in a long time, however like mentioned above it is one of those albums that you have to give a lot of time and effort to but trust me if you do just that you will not want to put it down for a long time, I now really hope Union Sound Set get the praise and recognition that Prego sadly never got.

5/5

Review by Trigger

 Band Members

Edd Simpson
Caspar Williamson
Simon Britcliffe
Dan Best
Alex Walker
 Track Listing
1. My Current State (Is Your Latest Objective)
2. Cause & Resolve
3. Trailing 3:38
4. Here's To You
5. Years : Months : Days
6. This Will Change Us
7. Hiding Places
8. The Longest Calm
9. Answers
10. Hit To Send
11. Waiting Minds
 Band Related Links
Union Sound Set Myspace
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?