10 STORIES DOWN

Compared to VOSD, 10 Stories Down is a very different group, when it comes to its line-up; with only ex Vulgar Unicorn man Bruce Soord remaining from two years previous. However musically things haven't changed much, as Soord is still the only songwriter of the group and has kept the band's propos pretty well the same. Sonically, however there are a few subtle differences: the group is now a quintet with two guitarists players and two keyboard players, each instrument having their "specialist", with Soord cumulating both instruments, but the drumming style is more mainstream as well. On the content, beit lyrical or songwriting however, 10SD is much in the line of previous album, dishing out some fairly neo- prog clichés along the Radiohead lines, mainly due to Soord's voice and its depressive objects of discussions throughout this present album.

Actually if I mentioned this "Radiohead" sound-alike similarity, I find that very remark very-much more relevant to this album, especially well shown in the depressive (even suicidal) artwork of the booklet, where the quintet is shown jumping of the roof of buildings. So this "Radiohead thing" that permeates PT's music is now becoming all too encumbering (I only know this one and VOAD) and I find it close to intolerably derivative. I was never a fan of Soord's "inspirations" (VU especially), but here it sounds almost like a will to leach from Thom Yorke emo-styled music.

Apparently coming in two more versions, the first being a 4-track EP (4 SD) and the other an extended version (12SD), the former having the merit of being short, the latter (most likely even more expensive), probably pushing you of the building's rooftop for being even more depressively long.