MICE AND RATS IN THE LOFT

If you were first exposed to Sorcerers, nothing's going to prepare you for Mice and Rats in the Loft. Sorcerers sounds like a positively ordinary psych folk album compared to this! Instead of a bunch of relatively short songs, this album consists of only three songs, the first piece taking up all of side one. The music really goes way beyond their debut in terms of ambition and complexity. "Sun Symphonica" may start off rather lightweight, but after a few minutes the band really gets to business. Lots of great use of percussion, acoustic guitar, mandolin, violin, sax, with some rather ominous lyrics with an ominous vibe going on. Lots of wonderful jams too. The next two are also equally complex and ambitious. These guys certainly didn't sit on their laurels in between the year between albums. As far as I'm concerned, the reputation of Jan Dukes de Grey rests on Mice and Rats in the Loft. This album really blew me away, and by far one of the best things I've heard off the Transatlantic label. You hadn't lived until you hear this!