DESCRIPTION:
Ingenious Melodic Experimental 90's New Wave/Post-Punk from the UK.

The band is called "And Also the Trees", and the album "The Klaxon"( released in 1993)

Video and description by Neueregel

Tracklist

1. 0:00 Sickness Divine
2. 3:42 The Soul Driver
3. 9:29 Jonny Lexington
4. 12:46 Sunrise
5. 17:40 Dialogue
6. 21:20 Wooden Leg
7. 27:11 The Dutchman
8. 31:00 Bullet Head
9. 37:56 The Flatlands

[And Also the Trees] are an English rock band, formed in 1979 in the United Kingdom. They are most notable for their poetic lyrics and evocative music which is strongly influenced by their native English countryside.

The Klaxon kicks off with a spindly, spry, though still downbeat tight groove for a jazzy, late-evening number, "Sickness Divine," with Simon Jones singing the line "Aimlessly I roam/Without you girl," instead of folkloric, strange figures; a just-this-side-of-sleazy trumpet on "The Soul Driver" -- is this the same band? Very much so, strictly speaking. Far from making a radical change, the Trees simply brought in some different sources of inspiration -- small nightclubs where the cigarette smoke hangs heavy as well as windswept moors and, to quote "Sunrise," "the floodplain" and "the wooded hill," Fitzgerald as well as Wordsworth. The loungey-tribal percussion on "Jonny Lexington" adds both an ominousness and a fresh edge to the Justin Jones guitar vibe, while a ringing, repetitive guitar riff drives "Dialogue" much more so than the more readily expected reverb strum, and "Bullet Head" almost sounds like a Morricone spaghetti western tune. The classic Trees' sound still clearly presents itself at points, though while "Sunrise" starts with another fine duet between voice and guitar by the Jones brothers, gentle string synths and soft but persistent keyboard beeps and bloops help to flesh things out, as does one of Justin Jones' best-ever guitar solos, a searing, piercing thing. Simon Jones tries out more smooth singing than he'd yet attempted, notably on "The Dutchman," with a nicely soaring though not bombastic chorus. The CD ends with "The Flatlands," another wonderful moody swing of a number. The Trees keep on keeping on just fine.

Everything is just perfect. The Mandolin is back where it belongs, the lyrics are perfect, the production is amazing and I think, I have to stop now. But seriously now: If you like dramatic 80's-style, unusual music. Definitely among the 1993 top-ten-albums! It is so incredibly astonishing and also very sad, that And Also The Trees have never caught the attention of a broader audience. Having said that, exactly this very underappreciation might be the key to their everlasting glory.

Video and description by Neueregel
February 2013


2015 note : For people who have never listened this album and only have limited time to only check a couple of Trees' songs : I recommended to start from those three catchy tunes : 5. 17:40 Dialogue or 6. 21:20 Wooden Leg or 7. 27:11 The Dutchman. If you like those, check the whole LP.