Aliceissleeping
Completely Fine – Mandrone Records
Channelling a kind of gothic Smashing Pumpkins Aliceissleeping are a bit like how you wished grunge had turned out. There’s a slightly lunatic out of the asylum vibe coming off of Alice courtesy of some mildly deranged vocals. At the heart of everything though is a seriously talented rock band. Completely Fine is full of big hooks, melody by the sack load and some lovely little touches that will have other musicians nodding in approval. The song order has been well thought out with each song complimenting to next and previous. The ebbs and flows this creates are seductive, making sure you want to keep listening. It’s so easy these days to select a track or two and bypass the rest. Completely Fine defies you to do that. You actually get the feeling it’ll get annoyed and give you a slap if you did. Here and there you get little Jack Off Jill vibes too, and a hint of Kate Bush, which is kind of neat. Alice was sleeping but now she’s awake, she’s not completely fine and she wants you to listen to her album. You’d be wise to give it a spin because it’s wonderful. It’s potentially an album of the year candidate, and it’s only February!
Review by Gary Trueman