JITTERS

It's been a while since Andy Tillison and co. saw themselves in a situation in which the continuing recording and gigging career of Parallel or 90 Degrees was put on ice until further notice. Now that the final weeks of 2009 are no the run, the return of PO90 is a fact. Despite the fact that the band is no longer a quintet but a quartet, the comeback album "Jitters" shows the band at the most accomplished expression of sonic power so far. Clearly following in the footsteps of "More Exotic Ways To Die" (the somewhat distant precedent) in terms of muscular architecture and aggressive dynamics, Tillison, Watts, Clarck and King have really granted us an excellent prog item in which excitement and energy share the king's throne. It will be enough to listen to the introductory track (called 'Interlude') to fnd out right away what I'm talking about here. This collection of riffs and motifs that we will find later on throughout the album's repertoire is a magnificent tour- de-force in which the catchy enhancement of the linked riffs is elaborated in pure artsy fashion. The first exercise on exhaustive elaboration after the electrifying prelude is 'Standalone', whose 6+ minute timespan displays an overpowering development of exciting melodies and arrangements: do not be fooled by the calm beauty of the brief piano intro. 'Threesome' is far more visceral, electrifying in a Muse-meets-O.S.I. sort of way, plus its touches of contemporary PT all over the place. This is fury dynamically comprised in an intelligent framework. 'Entry Level' goes to softer roads, stated on a funky/soul rhythmic scheme that enables the wilder passages to preserve a relatively constrained mood for good effect. So far, things have gone great and there still some more great stuff in store. 'Backup' insists on the PT pattern under the guise of powerful art-rock on a mid- tempo framework. The interlude gives the band room to expand on their heavier side, in this way generating an implosive psychedelic storm with accentuated connections to the prog-metal standard: Muse-meets-Radiohead with touches of "X"-era Fates Warning?... mmmm? The result is amazing, no doubt in my mind about it. 'The Dock Of The Abyss' is more related to the straightforward dynamics of post-punk and 90s melodic alternative rock, but this is not an indulgent pop song - the synth ornaments have a patently bizarre flair to them, and so do the prog-metal guitar attacks that emerge somewhere in the middle. This is arguably the most agile song in the album, with 'Standalone', 'Threesome' and 'Backup' signifying the epic highlights. The album's last 7 minutes are occupied by 'On The Death Of Jade', a blatantly modernized song that combines space-rock, Indie and shades of krautrock, fluidly solidified within a nostalgic ambience. In many ways, this song might be enjoyed as a reminiscence of pre-"Exotic Ways" PO90. Full frontal energetic rock in a non-mainstream fashion: this is the offering of "Jitters", this is the sort of artistic challenge that PO90 brings to whoever feels ready to experience what a big part of prog rock is all about nowadays.

This is their seventh studio album but first in seven years. Andy's been busy of course with his main project THE TANGENT. I own 5 of PARALLEL OR 90 DEGREES albums and this one is very different from the others. Lots more energy with these hard hitting tracks, and they certainly sound more modern. I think that was the goal of Andy's though as he added a young drummer and bass player to the lineup. Sam Baine who has been on every album of theirs except "No More Travelling Chess" is gone, but thanked in the liner notes. I miss that experimental and Psychedelic flavour that dominated their earlier albums.

"Interlude" is a top three track for me. This is a high octane instrumental. It's like a high speed chase really. "Standalone" opens with piano but it turns full quickly. Vocals before a minute. The tempo continues to shift. Some ripping guitar 5 minutes in. "Threesome" sounds like the opening of the "Twilight" movie soundtrack. I should know, my daughter used to play it constantly. Contrasts between the aggressive and calm continue. "Entry Level" is another top three. It opens with bass and drums as reserved vocals join in. It's building. I like the guitar before 2 minutes. Interesting lyrics too.

"Backup" opens heavily sounding like PORCUPINE TREE. These higher pictched (processed) vocals come in before a minute. They really give it their all on this one at times. "Jitters" builds to a full sound before 1 1/2 minutes with vocals. This pattern continues. "The Dock Of The Abyss" combines Otis Redding's song "The Dock Of The Bay" and their own composition. I really don't like the vocals here. They're almost punkish (is that a word?). Anyway it ruins it for me. I like the heaviness 3 1/2 minutes in though. "On The Death Of Jade" is my favourite tune on here. It almost sounds like a psychedelic BEATLES track at first. It gets fuller 2 1/2 minutes in as contrasts continue.

I'm sure this will be the most popular PARALLEL OR 90 DEGREES album yet. It's not mine but it's pretty good. 3.5 stars.

"They wished they'd seen it coming"! That's how it starts, and how i reacted after i heard the first notes of this "in your face" album! This is how the instrumental intro track "Interlude" kicks off. If you are Porcupine Tree lovers,you will relish many of the songs here.This first number is quite reminiscent of "Signify" and"Mother and Child Divided". ...The second"Standalone"starts with soft piano and ends up being a great rocker prog song. Excellent guitar playing.We get a jazzy bridge at about the halfway point. ...The third offering,"Threesome" starts like a "Nine Inch Nails" tune...This song is actually "Migraine part 2"(check their 2000 release)!! This is an experimental tune that works,with it's industrial sound.Tillison even sings in french. ..."Entry Level" starts with a funky bass and drum beat.A song that is as intriguing as it is bizarre,with a catchy chorus/refrain.Modern prog at it's best,with hints of "Porcupine Tree". ..."Back-up"starts like something you would here on an "Opeth" album,then gets trippy "a la Porcupine Tree",amazing guitar...this song also flows greatly with the rest of this album... ...Jitters...the title track rocks! Tillison and the rest of the band really shine on this track,with hints or similarities to Canadian band MYSTERY(*check out their song"travel thru the night"from "Beneath the Veil of Winter's Face"-2007) ,with a wonderful middle section,before the singing picks up from where it had left off. ...The Dock Of The Abyss is a song about "disaster" movies( the likes of "Towering Inferno"/"Earthquake"/and in this case"Airport")...,with Tillison singing Otis Redding's "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay",in PO90 style,which was a song about not finding work,as for this one is about present reality of no work, bad economics and world recession...(..."sitting on the dock of the Abyss...")...Groovy thecno electronic funk industrial rock tune! ...and at last but not least,"The Death Of Jade",has Tillison singing in french again.A little difficult to understand what he's saying(...for the first 2 or 3 listens...)...very atmospheric beginning,which grows into a crescendo and then settles back down til the end.This song is about reality tv and about one such british contestant who died not long after the end of the show. Overall, an explosive,"shock and awe",album that works!!!! This album may only be 43 minutes long,but is probably one of the 3 cds you want to buy to add to your collection(your "2009" collection ). A must for all proggers, and non-ones too! A 10/10. MontrealRick Blake

Parallel or 90 Degrees - Jitters (7/10)

A lot of people think of Parallel or 90 Degrees as a kind of an alter-ego of the Tangent, but really, they only share the same singer, so they're more of just er... bands with the same singer. Well, my point is, Parallel or 90 Degrees is not a similar band to The Tangent, and you really shouldn't expect them to be.

That doesn't mean they aren't good though! Here we have a great release, which is in a style I have not heard much before - it's sort of a heavy, riff-tacular and perhaps slightly psychedelic rock, with some light bits as well. Overall, this is a very strong album - most of the tracks are catchy and some are really well arranged ("Jitters", in particular, has some beautiful background accompaniment).

The strong songs are, for me, "Jitters", "Standalone" and "The Dock of the Abyss". "Jitters" and "Threesome" are fairly similar, both being fairly straight-forward (structure wise) rock pieces with catchy riffs, and some great piano use. "Standalone" has a great guitar solo and a laid-back jazzy section. "The Dock of the Abyss" is completely different; it's a slow, epic piece with a beautiful chord sequence and great instrument-work.

The album has some fairly weak tracks, mostly "Threesome" and "Entry Level". "Threesome" is weird and has some French (I think) vocals. Both these songs, I think, suffer from being too repetitive and a bit deliberately hard or maybe even a little dissonant.

I think a lot of this albums appeal comes from the fusion on Tillison's great voice with the catchy, foot-tappable riffs! Certainly an enjoyable listen.

In conclusion, this is a unique (to me, at least) album which I can't really recommend to fans of particular artists because I can't think of any they are very similar to, but if you like catchy, rhythmic, rock-based music but with great arrangements and very tasteful use of keyboards and with short-form songs, this album might very well appeal to you.