Gliss - Devotion Implosion [Album]
 

It seems The Jesus and Mary Chain are quickly becoming the new Velvet Underground; a band who may not have sold vast amounts of records, but everyone who did buy one started a band because of it. From the distorted Spector-pop of The Raveonettes to the blatant plagiarism of Crocodiles on their track ‘Kill Tonight’, every man and his distortion pedal seems to share a love for East Kilbride’s finest. The latest band who owe a debt to the Reid brothers are LA trio, Gliss, particularly on ‘Morning Light’ the opener to “Devotion Implosion”, the follow-up to 2006’s, “Love the Virgins”. Gliss are wise enough not to remain too indebted though, and soon move through a whole iPod full of contemporaries. ‘Sleep’ sounds exactly like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at their best (if you can remember that), while ‘Beauty’ calls to mind The Strokes at 4 am after a night cavorting and snorting, or whatever those crazy, work-shy New Yorkers get up to when trying to avoid actually writing something. Other obvious reference points, if not influences, are just as easy to hear: Autolux, Silversun Pickups, Smashing Pumpkins, and even T-Rex are all there.

Luckily I am not one to dock a band points for not being terribly original, I just add heaps of them when someone actually is (it’s a very rare thing). The main thing to take from “Devotion Implosion” is just how good the songs are, and therefore just how good a job they make of not sounding like they have never listened to another record in their lives. There’s not a single ounce of filler on “Devotion Implosion”, just 10 reverb-replete tracks that are as resplendent as anything that other more recent bands of this ilk have produced.

Being multi-instrumentalists, you never know which member of Gliss is playing which instrument on any given song, but the vocals are equally as disguised – more precisely they’re rather androgynous. It’s easy for your mind to flit between both sexes faster than David Bowie, and most people it seems, do finally settle on Victoria Cecilia, but in fact it’s Martin Klingman who provides the cooler-than-thou tones. But just like a Roman orgy – who cares whose mouth it is when it is so befitting of the moment? After all, you should care little for the details when the whole is so inviting.


Tracklist:

01. Morning Light
02. 29 Acts of Love
03. Sleep
04. Beauty
05. Anybody Inside
06. Lovers In The Bathroom
07. Sad Eyes
08. The Patrol
09. Love Songs
10. Sister Sister

Re: Gliss - Devotion Implosion [Album]
 

Nice review - makes me want to listen to them. I've just been making my own Mary Chain references - you're right about their being influential!

Re: Gliss - Devotion Implosion [Album]
 

Thanks - they certainly are. Fair enough too.

Re: Gliss - Devotion Implosion [Album]
 

Nice review Mike, I like the little dig at the other bands in this reveiw too. The Strokes for one seem like a bunch of pricks. Will check these out when I have a min.

Re: Gliss - Devotion Implosion [Album]
 

Although upon first listen, one of the other bands I mention have trumped this with their new album.

I'll let you guess who that is (although it's my one outstanding review, so it's not too hard to find out)

Re: Gliss - Devotion Implosion [Album]
 

It's about time people started giving the Mary Chain the respect they deserve, in the clamour to namedrop My Bloody Valentine, the Mary Chain seemed to have got forgotten. They were there before MBV, they released more albums, wrote better songs and in reality were far more influential. Also nice to see Gliss getting postive reviews, a freind in New York flagged them up to me at the beginning of the year and I liked!

Re: Gliss - Devotion Implosion [Album]
 

You heard this album?

Re: Gliss - Devotion Implosion [Album]
 

I think I got sent it around March?? Can't remember exactly..but yeah I like the album and am in concurrence with the review