George Usher Group – Fire Garden
The pair of openers, Are You Coming Or Going? and The Day Before I Found Her, pretty much typify the intent here cascading, chiming guitar figures and sweet stinging leads propelling George Ushers euphoniously arty popcraft. The former member of Beat Rodeo and the Schramms has a pure pop heart, but much like fringe predecessors the Chills or Felt, he channels the jangle into his own brand of sincere quirk. Theres nothing overtly cheeky on Fire Garden, just an oddball charm and the usual brainy distillation of 60s influences (Zombies, Beatles, Left Banke, etc.).
At its best, the album has a slightly askew melodic bite Fade 4 The Lost Fields, for instance, has a stately baroque feel and busy guitar noodlings that seem pitched at an unlikely midpoint between Television and Odessey & Oracle. A few tracks are bit too oblique to get a grip on (There Is No Sleep gallops along like a new-wave versions of Led Zeppelins Immigrant Song).
Overall, this is highly tuneful and original stuff, with the guitar buzz and chime tamping things down behind Ushers shaky warble. Those aware of Usher primarily through Beat Rodeo or the title track of Laura Cantrells debut may be surprised by the utter lack of rootsiness on Fire Garden.