Leeds-based bedroom synth doodler Nick Brown, aka Reincarnationfish has been developing his craft for longer than some of the kids in bands have been born, and has featured on a handful of compilations over the last seven years or so. As the write-up for 'Rocket' on the Reincarnationfish Bandcamp page suggests, he's a bit of a perfectionist: 'These songs were written last year and while the mix is never perfect and the vocals are never right, they are now as finished as they will ever be'.
He also adds, 'There was a title track, a song called 'Rockets' too, but that one is as unfinished as it will ever be'. Still, finished or not, the four tracks on this EP capture Nick in a reflective mood and demonstrate his knack for creating nagging synth motifs and drawing on 80s electronica without sounding like all of the other purveyors of retro electro that have flooded the airwaves and virtual world in the last few years.
It kicks off with 'Danny Mason Keener', a fairly lightweight and accessible, Human League-y number that slows and shifts to a more downbeat position halfway through (which contrasts with the lyrics, in which the red sky at the start of the song switch to blue) before 'Robot Supermodel' sees Reincarnationfish diving in the murky waters that lie between Gary Numan and NIN, being slower, sparser. Here, haunting synths sweep over rumbling percussion that lays low in the mix, to forge a dark and brittle atmosphere.
It's a clanking, metallic range of sounds that provide the rhythmic backbone to 'The War with the Newts'. It sort of reminds me of Depeche Mode's 'People Are People', only without any of the awkward lyrics (even as a fan of Depeche Mode, I have to say that some of the couplets that grace their earlier albums are clunky to say the least), and as such, I rather like it, the overlayed vocal tracks working to good effect.
Stuttering beats and the introduction of a guitar line marks a well-timed change of texture and tack for the final track, 'You've Found a Piece of Heart'. The delay on the vocals, in conjunction with the looping synth motif which has – or created the illusion of – an irregular or unusual time signature renders this a disorientating listen, as Brown casts himself in the role of cynical ill-fated romantic before the track brings the EP to a stuttering halt.
