MICE AND RATS IN THE LOFT

This one gets plenty of comparisons to the work of Comus, particularly the style of First Utterance, but of the two I actually think this one is markedly more accessible. Not that it doesn't have its moments of spooky progressive folk dissonance - but whereas Comus' debut masterpiece has them starting out in Creepsville and staying there for the duration, Mice and Rats In the Loft offers a substantially more nuanced and varied listening experience, with a few more moments of lighthearted joy or peaceful tranquility than Comus are typically willing to offer the listener. The strangeness ramps up progressively as the album proceeds, with Call of the Wild degenerating into trippy chaos by the end of its running time and the title track incorporates siren-like keyboards and rhythmic sections which start creeping towards the "motorik" rhythms of the Krautrock scene.

VanVanVan compares them to Tull jamming with Christian Vander; I'd be more inclined to suggest a collaboration between Fairport Convention and Can, but whoever you compare these guys to, it's clear that this is a bizarre little album which, along with rodents upstairs, has more than a few bats in its belfry too.