What happened to the Anglo New Wave revival? Once upon a time in this century, alt-hits like Interpol (QRO album review) & Editors (QRO album review) inspired tons of other people to check out early eighties alternative acts out of England like Joy Division. But then it all seemingly dropped off the face of the earth, lost amid even newer waves of garage-rock, alt-country, indietronica, and now chillwave. So that’s why it’s great to hear at least one new act dipping deep into that well, Toronto’s Fjord Rowboat on Under Cover of Brightness, a record whose draw from the well isn’t that wide, but definitely good to hear.
Under Cover of Brightness has the kind of atmospheric but pressing guitars that you don’t hear as much of anymore, and why not? They’re great, if done a little too similarly throughout the record, with only the more echoing "Out of My Control" providing any serious change. Fjord is best when the press the press button on pieces like "Underwater Hero", or especially the final three, "When I Speak of Violence", "We Both Know", and "Set Your Sights". The band does get overwrought in the middle, such as with back-to-back "The Other Side of a Dream" and "Cottonwood Glacier", the latter of which has the early line, "I turned my back on love / Love turned its back on me" – feels more like a snippet of a Dashboard Confessional song than a Joy Division one…
Fjord Rowboat do need to widen their sound (and their awkward name ain’t doin’ ‘em any favors, either…), but they’ve hit upon a solid seam to work from. The Anglo New Wave revival has been clawing its way back, from Interpol returning from the wilderness (QRO photos) to acts – including JD bassist Peter Hook – doing top-to-bottom cover performances of Joy Division’s seminal Unknown Pleasures (QRO photos), so maybe it’s finally time.
MP3 Stream: "When I Speak of Violence"
