Decoration don't let you down, this limited edition, double A-Side, vinyl only release (probably to serve the needs of radio and Indie Disco DJ's more than the casual punter) featuring the prime cut from their debut album (Job in London) and live barnstormer (Candidate) indicates just how much these boys have to offer, if two such utterly thrilling tracks can be hidden away on a seemingly flippant limited release on an unpopular format then whatever else they have up their sleeves must be monumental. These two tracks were, again, recorded at Gravity Shack in London with the esteemed Pat Collier twiddling the knobs, and they show a band brimming with confidence, self assuredness and cheeky northern pride.

Interest in Decoration has been gathering pace steadily over the last twelve to eighteen months, and the release of their debut album Don't Disappoint Me Now saw rave reviews from both the British media and further afield in continental Europe and the U.S.A, with the record being cited as the finest thing since sliced Stollen in Germany and Americas Big Takeover magazine pronouncing it a collection of "pop hurricanes, with melodies that stick and guitars that kill" - indeed such was the reception that the record is being released in Europe in it's own right through Indigo, and esteemed John Peel-a-like radio DJ John Richards of Seattle station K.E.X.P. has been including selections from the album in his show regularly since its release. If you aren't already familiar with them, I suggest you get your head out of Maximo Parks arse and point your listening gear at this.

Candidate opens up with a double barrel discharge of sonic exhilaration and barely does the tempo let up, the furious thrashing and mashing of multiple layers of wildly harmonious, lusciously melodious yet unerringly ferocious guitars provide the perfect angst ridden back drop for Stuart Murrays impassioned vocal lines as the song builds to a thrillingly cataclysmic ending that will leave you battered and bruised yet aching for more. The perfect antidote comes soon after with the scintillatingly delicate arpeggios that build through the intro of Job in London, these golden dew drops of aural honey drip from Steven Dickinsons guitar lines as Murray tells the tale of a provincial boy left sitting on his hands whilst his beau ventures out into the bright lights of the big city, until, as one, the band explode into a gut wrenchingly powerful denouement that has all four of them building and crashing through the greatest crescendo since the 1812 Overture, it breaks and falters, it sidesteps and sways, and ultimately prettiness is swept aside by the raw out and out power and passion of music that quite rightly steals the show.

Breathtaking, to say the least.
 

Johnny Mac

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