JITTERS

"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