When you list The Fall and Crass as two of your primary influences you leave the listener expecting something a little less than ordinary. And on their new record, The Big Sell, that is exactly what north Glasgow-based duo Fin Ray have delivered.
Their songs are the auditory equivalent of driftwood sculptures, constructed of a range of disparate items washed up on the sands after a violent storm. On the opener, ‘Dream Benefits’, notes are seemingly plucked at random until they coalesce in a glorious acquiescence. The resulting racket is really rather beautiful. Later on the record, ‘Cheapside’ is a charming yet stumbling waltz of slowcore that softens the harshest edges of bleak city living. Even the slightly tired-sounding garage blues of ‘Nuts’ is engulfed in a thicket of thorns that save it from becoming just another twelve-bar that should have stayed in the practice room.
Any of the tracks here sound like they could have been lifted from a late-night Peel session, and while their stated influences are evident, on The Big Sell, Duncan Paterson and Paul Fox reveal themselves as thoroughly interesting outsiders.
The Big Sell is out now on MAP 75 Records
