Reynolds
Field Recordings

*Reynolds is four fine folk from East Anglia who play Rock music in the vein of such greats as Bob Tilton, Ligament and Oil Seed Rape. *

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Like those three bands the US Hardcore scene has influenced Reynolds heavily. They all share a love of Fugazi and Shellac and that becomes quite obvious when you listen to this. The album is an immense improvement to their debut 7” single ‘Unwind to Unwound’ which was a musical mess.

The two real standouts on the ten track album are the opener ‘This Flat Land’ where Matt whispers to the faint strumming of guitar strings and the gentle tapping of drum skins, a beautiful atmospheric track inspired by the picturesque Fens around their home town of Wisbech. If you shut your eyes and use your imagination you might be able to see them, maybe? The frantic ‘Humble Pie’ is the other song that I love, it’s the finest moment on the album with the thunderous thrashing of guitars and the painful scream till you lose your voice vocals. It’s the complete opposite to most of the album, as the songs tend to be funeral-paced instrumentals with the occasional whisper or mumble from Matt.

The thing that impresses me the most is the quality of the recording. The album was mostly recorded in barns and the bassist’s front room and probably cost the same amount as Muse pay their stylist bill every week. Make sure you add ‘Field Recordings‘ to your list of albums to buy this year, as this is an amazing album by an exceptional band that have been criminally ignored by the music press.