"We'll only let you down" spits Matthew Oakes after the third drumbeat of opener 'Cut Your Hair', which anyone who's ever had the pleasure of witnessing an LED! live show will know is a blatant, preposterous lie.
No, the real let down here is the recorded-in-a-toilet-with-the-taps-left-running production. This EP should come with a free subscription to Audifon, as even the most hi-tech grade of hearing aid would have difficulty picking up the vast array of sounds LED! have concocted to put 'Faster, Faster...' together. If St Hubbins, Tufnel and Smalls were in the building they wouldn't be asking if someone could turn it "one louder", they'd be asking for a new rig of amps. It's all a bit of a shame because the aforementioned '...Hair' and Blair-baiting 'Fort Washington' - both long term staples of LED!'s live set - sound like lost sheep in need of a compass and map in comparison to the gargantuan epics their stage alter egos embellish. Maybe 'Louder, LOUDER...' would have been a more appropriate title?
On the positive side though, listen closely to 'The Russian Greats' and you'll hear a lone female voice (one Leah Donovan) scream "you're just an arsehole!" before admitting "I don't know why I came here - it seemed a good idea at the time" like a female sibling of the Arctic Monkeys; likewise 'An Equation', which flits between balladry and post-rock ascension with some aplomb. It's a shame, then, that poor production has tarnished what would have undoubtedly been an excellent EP showing off four very different sides of Love Ends Disaster!'s character.
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6Dom Gourlay's Score