Vanity and Presumption

21 April: Single - Night of the Humerons "Science hasn't recorded it yet" Just the one offering in 2012, and a limited edition one at the that. Night of the Humerons (fantastic name for a record) was released for Record Store Day in 2012 and there were just a thousand copies of this seven inch single. With a live version of Taking Off from last year's Ersatz GB on the b-side (which is alright but unspectacular) I'm left with one track to choose for this year - good job it's excellent. Victrola Time has an intro most bands would give a career for. After just over a minute of drums and synth twiddling you're thinking 'oh, pretty decent instrumental track here' and then at 1:15 MES joins with some sort of unholy wail like you've never heard before. If you picked this apart it's probably pretty simple stuff but put it together and wow! Extraordinary.

7 November: Single - Laptop Dog 14 November: Album - Ersatz G.B. "How can we stand firm against the process?" A busier touring schedule (and perhaps the change of record label) meant nearly 18 months had passed since the last recorded output before a limited edition single appeared in November. The lead track was Laptop Dog and that was accompanied with versions of Cosmos 7 & and Monocard that differed from the soon to be released album. I seem to remember enjoying the album when it came out but going off it after a few plays. First time listening in a while so here goes... ... I'd file it under good but not great. It makes an excellent start with the frantic Cosmos 7 . It has shades of The Past about it, particularly in the keyboards. That's a good thing.  Taking Off ticks the Smith random exclamation box "Bonjela complexion", "8pm, tidy Italian" and reflects the album as a whole - it's good, but not quite 100% on it. Nate Will Not Re