MERCURY FOUNTAIN

4 years passed between their 2013 debut, Horizons / Rapture, and this, their sophomore release ('sophomore' feeling less and less appropriate, given the amount of time gone and their clear, shining ability). The Physics House Band is a post-Math Rock band with Psychedelic and electronic affectations. Here, Raven Bush of Syd Arthur (and Kate Bush's nephew!) is a feature on two tracks! Couldn't not mention that! I recall feeling this album had nearly passed me by when it had first come out. All in good timing.

"Mobius Strip" starts off frankly very classic somehow. The low, fuzzy arpeggio from the guitar gives way to a bright, almost ambient, progressive electronic synth. It is not until the approach to the end that we realize we are indeed in the 21st century. Great intro. All falls away to the sounds of bells and spacy strings to the sudden start of "Calypso", rushed and tense. Our drummer, Dave Morgan, is an immediate highlight here, playing both groovy and quick. The sort of bells-like keys continue over layers and layers of guitar and synth. I trust this track will very much appeal to the average Prog fan, but actually very seriously for fans of both the sort of second-wave of Prog in the late-70s as well as the New Proggers of the '00s.

All is strung so tightly and innately together, as "Calypso" falls away to nothing, but a single mellotronny string, like a warbling, alien cello opens up the lower "Holy Caves". Truly painting a setting before our mind's eye, no? This cello-esque note continues on, not in solitude, but with the light clanging of symbols and the steady rhythm of the bass's main and only riff. Midway through it's unveiled a more clearly psychedelic landscape, with the drums now rolling and the guitar shimmering softly alongside the keys. Super classic... It truly felt like interlude, and it rolls right into the boisterous "Surrogate Head"! Makes you wonder how this all was written, as from track to track they don't miss a beat. The bass and the drums roll alongside one another and the guitar clangs and the keys and organ roars. There's something innately classic in this too, drums aside. The wild, slinky bass very easily could have been performed by the likes of Chris Squire; as I already mentioned, the organ is big and spacious, reminiscent of Progging's Past, for sure.

Another longer-form interlude is the soft, ambient "A Thousand Small Spaces" (fitting title). I can't help it, but Jean Michel Jarre, indeed, comes to mind. The very end sees the track open up to the huge, though wholly surprising dissonance of the next, "Obidant". Aren't I wide-eyed and bushy-tailed? Awesome main riff here, but also some stellar, clearly composed, melodic soloing throughout as well, through the builds and swells and the glimmering of chiptune synths. At just 2 and a half minutes, this is anactive track haha. Highly progressive, highly ambitious. I wasn't looking and here I am in a new track altogether! "Impolex" is just as boisterous, though, if you can make sense of it, laid back, driven by those same glimmering synths, but also by incessant rhythm from the drums and the bass, a wild drone, if there was one. This features flute from an artist that goes by... Biscuit! haha. Very cool. Really brings us all around, doesn't it. Not unlike a Canterbury connection.

Once again, the barrage ceases, but to something far more peaceable than before, "The Astral Wave", with bright acoustic guitar and piano running juxtaposed to the ethereal. Then, at the midpoint, we get a very classic sort of guitar solo over rolling drums and the frisson-inducing synths, building immediately to a sweet groove. We're locked in. And break! SAX SOLO! haha. Very fun track. And naturally, we slide right into "Mobius Strip II". Seriously, what an adventure this album is. Check it.