After a quickfire run of singles, your reviewer was beginning to wonder what had become of this Nottingham trio (plus sit-in drummer) with the unwieldy name and the inbuilt tendency to make a big, obstreperous noise.
But fear not, for it seems their low-profile period was entirely self-imposed as they've been tucked away pointing their collective divining rod at faultlines containing further sonic tremors, or - in layman's terms - they've been stuck in the studio making a right racket and laying down tunes for their forthcoming debut album, due early in 2006.
And, judging by the seething blowout of "Blackstuff" they've been enjoying every minute an' all. As far as I can gather, the title isn't a belated tribute to the gritty Scouse series "Boys From The Blackstuff" from the '80s featuring Bernard Hill's immortal Yosser Hughes character, but it does contain growling basslines, Sam Hempson and Chris Middleton's scything guitars and (guest) drummer Jon Aitken getting summoned onto Keith Moon's astral plane for the duration of this Stooges-style 3 and a half minutes. It's very loud, infectiously obnoxious and feature Huw Costin singing vengeance-fuelled stuff like "if you don't stop fucking around with me, whoa-oh, I'm gonna cut you down". Blimey. Wouldn't like to nick a pint of milk off his doorstep of a morning.
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Sadly, they blot their copybook a bit with the epic aspiration of additional track "You And Me." The initial signs aren't bad - the band's more plangent, sensitive (sniff!) side is to the fore, Costin again proves he can hold a tune in commanding fashion and the track begins to rise in Feeder-esque fashion with Huw obsessing over the line "It's all about you and me." All very commendable - until their natural carnal/ noise desires kick in from about the 5 minute mark and the inevitable series of crashing crescendoes break over the beach. Ho hum. And over seven minutes in all? Oh come on!
Still, we'll let it go for now and - more importantly - with "Blackstuff" Earth TCLD serve notice they're back doing what they do best. If they concentrate on the seething brevity of this one and previous jolt-of-exhilaration firecrackers like "Porn Star" that album may well be worth its' extended gestation period after all. Watch this space.
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