CD Reviews - Make It Better Later - Music By Numbers By Kelpy D Pictures by Anna Drake

I was thoroughly unprepared for this. For what just issued forth from my CD player. So much so I grabbed my laptop and began to write, shocked into action by a band with a sense of humour to rival their creative vision. My stereo had been turned up to a volume appropriate for a single man in his front room dancing to Gold by Spandau Ballet in the vain hope of practicing enough so that when the time came he could wow the girl of his dreams with his smooth moves. I was therefore greeted by a thunder clap of electric guitar, bass, drums and violin.

The demo had been passed to me because with it featuring violin, I was expected to be able to appreciate it, as it was, let's face it, likely to be a little folky. And a little folky it was, but it was also a little of so many more things that infused like a cup of Yorkshire Tea having been blended to work on many different types of ear.

Never read the blog they send 'til after you listen to the CD so that you too can be as giddy as a pirate who's found buried treasure when listening for the first time to a band such as Make It Better Later. In fact stop reading this review now and just buy the damn album, you'll probably love it. They tell me they played their first gig at Ringside in November 2006 and I find myself asking what I was doing that was so important that I had to miss it.

Track one, Headlines and Lies opens with an almost thrash metal crash of drums which go on to underpin the beginning of this eclectic track before 6/8 folk melodies and relaxed ska groves and thrashy punk urgency mingle to deliberate effect preventing the ringing of so many changes seeming unnecessary.

Short and sweet, this met with my special seal of approval, meaning I was straight on the phone to a friend saying "listen to this". With a chorus urging "rise up, it's your right to be free", they appear to have something to say to complement their obvious musical ability. It may appear a tad OTT, but trust me it works. Everything I could possibly ask for from a song was crammed into a mere two minutes and forty-two seconds. Time signature changes (for those that care), half-time, double-time, violin exuding from gaps left in the intro, and yes even double kick and pizzicato violin.

The Pirate Song shows MIBL's obvious sense of humour. I just heard a rapacious rendition of "ooh ay and up she rises" clambering from the mouths of the huddled masses in the kitchen who but 15 seconds earlier heard those haunting harmonies sung for the first time on The Pirate Song, a true testament to the infectious troika of songs on this EP.

Sea shanty followed by something of a Rock twisted dirge of the sea. Breaking down into the clearly communicable "what shall we do with a drunken sailor" another brief song comes to a dramatic end. The song is reminiscent of something that thisisUll favourites CrackTown would've been involved in, in a similar way to the Spaceman's Walk on cowfisH's Cupboard Soup.

The final song is tame by comparison to the brace that preceded it, a reggae jam live on radio called Soul Train. Rather typical of such things it serves two purposes for me. It highlights the diversity of the band and proves they can handle themselves in a live setting, including the lilting harmonies that pervade each song, which set them apart from other bands in their milieu presently playing at an affordable price.

All in all I was thoroughly impressed by their musicality, their humour, their creative zeal and their willingness to infuse a variety of instruments and styles to come up with something that, while I'm sure not completely original, takes a good deal of scouting around to find comparable examples. Upcoming gigs include March 16 - April 2 UK tour with Hypo Psycho and Fibbers in York (with Spunge). So for all you crazy cats who want to be gallivanting around the country in search of your musical jollies there you have it.

More information is I'm sure available at www.myspace.com/makeitbetterlater for the technologically more literate of you. Oh and by the way Headlines & Lies is available March 12th on Periphony Records. Go fast and kelpy Snakkes Kelpy D

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