Averkiou Throwing Sparks

Averkiou 'Throwing Sparks' (Barracuda Sound 2009)

When Fray and I went down to London to see recently reformed doom overlords St Vitus we partook in a few drinks. Which may not surprise you. We got so wrecked that I forgot that Alan 'Alan' Walker, The Talker, was actually inside the gig waiting to surprise his erstwhile best man. We were too busy arguing about the way back to the venue, which was in the middle of a shopping centre, from the 'gay friendly' (and that's being polite) pub we'd just escaped from. Two portly bearded giants were apparently very popular with older suited businessmen......

Upon meeting Alan, despite the fact that I arranged the surprise, I was as shocked as Fray by our gangly ginger chum. Fray managed a semi courteous greeting before forcing his sizeable frame through the crowd, where he could berate hipster girls for getting in his way, leaving Alan and I to catch up. I don't think either of us have seen The Talker since which says something about how impressed he was by our performance.

Prior to getting to the gig and being welcomed into Fray's brother in law's excellent East End tower block we had visited Camden for drinks and shopping. I'd told Fray about the excellent All Ages Records and we decided to go and have a look in between pubs. I was particularly desperate to relieve myself by the time I started browsing and only got to 'B' before I was about to burst. I eventually plucked up the courage to ask if I could use the staff toilet and was pleasantly surprised to be answered in the affirmative. Bliss. Suitably drained I now realised I was in dire need of another pint so we purchased our records, 'Do you guys only like bands which begin with 'A' or 'B'?' we were asked, and headed to the next pub.

I picked up Averkiou because it had a descriptive sticker on the front of the display sleeve that referred to Texas is the Reason. How this was used as a touchstone I'm not quite sure, but for once I was not disappointed by the erroneous comparison.

'Throwing Sparks' is a great little pop record. Full of layer upon layer of tuneful, fuzzed out guitars with far away vocals and indie Jesus and Mary Chain beats. It's brilliantly immediate and has been on reasonably heavy rotation since I bought it, being an album that can be put on no matter the company. Dinner guests like it, hardcore mates like it, poker mates like it and even the most critical curmudgeons (Nigellus/Fray) can tolerate it; it's a winner!

Of course it's been done before, but it sounds fresh and alive, which is quite unlike a large proportion of my collection. Bizarrely, today is the first day I discovered the information sheet in the cover which shows how great the music is as I have always just put it on the death deck and let the sounds wash over me. I went on line and snapped up their other releases and can't wait to hear them. I don't know why it took me so long to do that, but now it's done I'm very excited. It's rare for that to happen with new music and it's fantastic when it does.

Life affirming brilliance.

Peace

RIP MCA