The quality-first Wilkommen label have already provided us with luscious records by the likes of The Leisure Society and Sons of Noel & Adrian and with THE CLIMBERS they are again introducing us to a name we need to remember.
So who are these mysterious kings of the cliffs with nautical aspirations who take their name from the Lake District climbing trips they undertook during their school days? We already know 'em quite well as they are actually songwriters Tim West, Christian Hardy and Nick Hemming (also from The Leisure Society) though on record this London and Brighton co-op's collaborators can number up to 19 with like minds from Absentee, Shoreline and Sons of Noel & Adrian making telling contributions along the way.
Although broadly an 'Indie' affair recorded predominantly on the fly in hired cottages in Devon and Wales, 'The Good Ship' is anything but a cut-price, lo-fi rowing boat. Indeed, these Climbers have launched a classy vessel capable of gracefully navigating a variety of sonic waterways with ease and skill to spare.
Significantly, the material on show also suggests there's precious little chance of mutiny among the enthusiastic ranks who sail in her. 'The Good Ship' is a craft of emotion and ambition from stem to stern. Opener 'Bookshop Folk' is opulent indie-Portishead with glacial femme fatale vocals and is not only hugely evocative but appears to have hi-jacked a passing chapter of Gregorian monks along the way. Songs like 'From Now On' – with its' baroque strings – and 'Uncommon' are equally luxuriously appointed, while 'The Fellowship' is both symphonic and vaudevillian in its' execution.
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It's by no means all widescreen ambition however. Tacks like 'Anything' and the delightful, Neil Young-inspired, Country-tinged duet 'I Will Never' are slices of intimate, homespun beauty to gorge yourself on, while the deceptive 'In A Circle' starts off as a gentle, Anti-folk workout, but catches itself in a whirlpool of epic proportions before it's wound down. Best of all for me, though, is the memorable title track: a manic sea-shanty fuelled by brass, melodica, hi-hat riding disco drumming and a twinge or two of The Coral during the peak of their early form.
'The Good Ship' is more than capable of finding safe passage in the industry's deep, treacherous waters. She has a resourceful and creative crew and if she continues to cruise with this sort of confidence, steering a course to avoid the icebergs won't pose a problem at all.
Wilkommen Records online
The Climbers Myspace page
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