Review of As Fools We Are Album by Fireworks Night

Fireworks Night
As Fools We Are
Album Review


As Fools We Are is a wonderfully accomplished collection of skewed, dark folk songs, as ambitious as any album of its genre. Yes, Fireworks Night's second LP is impressive, full of unexpected musical left-turns, classic songwriting and rich instrumentation.

The brilliant Parisian-tinged chamber pop of single 'When We Fell Through The Ice' is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, the album is a consistent joy throughout, with no excess fat. 'Dirty Deeds Done Publicly' is a multilayered epic, all creeping guitars and spooky theremins, whereas 'Rewards, Rewards, Rewards' is a lovely slow-burner with a swelling backdrop that makes it sound like a more fractured take on Radiohead's 'How To Disappear Completely'.

Fireworks Night, though, are a unique entity, and while it's possible to hear their influences (Nick Cave, Tindersticks and singer James Lesslie's style recalls Neil Hannon and David Bowie) it is more interesting to hear what they can do with them. 'Her Shiny Teeth' is a lovely, shimmering finale, not going for the obvious option of big-epic-song-at-the-end which so many bands do, and 'What You Don't Know' is an explosive triumph, with a genuinely unexpected twist. Fireworks Night are a band so completely out of step with fashion that they come as a refreshing antidote to so much of the chart music that saturates the airwaves, and As Fools We Are is an album with much more soul and substance than anything in the top 40. In a parallel universe they're as big as U2. I'm sure of it.

Fireworks Night As Fools We Are Album


Ben Davis


Site - http://www.myspace.com/fireworksnight

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