album // Magic Seed
According to the Mute Statement catalogue,
Easy's solitary Blast First album sold more copies
than Sonic Youth's debut, but 'nobody noticed'. It's easy
to agree with such frustrations, as this is a high quality album
with some brilliant, upbeat spiky guitar pop tracks, and yet it
barely even registered when it was released in 1990. The irony is,
in these rockist climes, these songs would probably chart now -
14 years on, these tracks sound weirdly 'current', and this still
ranks as one of my favourite Blast First releases.
I first heard Easy on the 1990 Mute compilation
International - they were the only Blast First act to appear, with
the track 'Between John & Yoko', which is featured here. Having
come from an electronic music background, it was one of the tracks
I used to skip through. A few years later, when I'd begun listening
to punk, I found this album in a second-hand shop, and was transfixed
from the first note. It truly is an album of exceptional quality,
characterised by Johan Holmlund's hypnotic vocals, grinding
bass, oceans of melodic guitars and solid drumming. The sleeve features
a computer-generated fractal pattern which feels a bit out of place
for a rock album. Magic Seed was recorded in the second home
for early Mute artists, Blackwing, and was produced by John Fryer
at the now-defunct Blackwing Studios. Easy were Rikard
Jormin, Anders Petersson, Tommy Ericsson, Tommy
Jonsson and Holmlund. They were Swedish.
The album kicks off with 'Castle Train', which was
released as a single. I wouldn't be gushing if I said that each
of the tracks here were of a consistent quality. 'Castle Train'
is a throbbing pop punk track, complete with sighing background
vocal harmonies, a thrashy beat and a really gripping arpeggio guitar
section. This is followed by 'He Brings The Honey', a psychedelic
rocker with a dreamy chorus and a rhythmic core reminiscent of some
of the Inspiral Carpets' finest material. 'He Brings The
Honey' was also released as a single.
'Cloud Chamber' begins with a serene interlocking
of instruments before hurtling into a euphoric, mellow chorus tempered
only by a gritty guitar riff. I've no idea what Johan means when
he sings of 'Sleeping in your cloud chamber', but presumably
it's a love song. Blessed with such an innocent voice, Johan's yelp
after the final chorus sounds more like he fell off a chair during
recordings rather than apeing Mick Jagger. 'Damn Sugar' begins with
a great guitar effect - think clanging pots - and becomes, on the
face of it, a heavy rock track...until a beautiful melodic guitar
lick and sensitive guitar melody and harmonised vocal section offset
the chugging beat and barbed bass. Easy were masters of sonic contradiction
within the same song, here taking the raw materials of adrenaline-filled
punk and interlacing it with harmonic spleandour.
'Sunny Day' rips ahead with a frantic fuzz and snare
riff, but this is soon curtailed by blissful strumming and a heartfelt
vocal from Holmlund - 'Don't make me feel this way / Everything's
fine on this sunny day'. It's like waking up on a summer's morning
next to the one you love; it has a beautiful, hazy quality, Holmlund
becoming more and more sedentiary until being flung back with an
awesome return of the orginal riff. 'Land Diving' - whatever that
means - recalls the urgent, earnest melody-filled songs of The Cure
or The Smiths and features a small passage which features a synth
that sounds like an alarm clock and a wispy organ chord. The final
minute really illustrates the virtuosity of the musicians, whether
it be the thick rolls of bass, shimmering cymbals or insectoid guitar
scribbles.
'Horoscope', with its lovely guitar sound and Phil
Spector-esque percussion, was also released as a single. It's certainly
one of the best tracks here, a brief, lovely, mellow track with
an emotive chorus that reminds me chiefly of OMD's Andy McLuskey.
The aforementioned 'Between John & Yoko' is a bass-led, frenetic
track with great riffs and bold vocal harmonies, particularly around
the 'Love love love' line which intrinsically connects Easy
to The Beatles' bold pop statements.
The near seven minute 'Pleasure Cruise' is an epic,
monolithic track with rigid, heavy playing, featuring Holmlund intoning
'Always something there to remind me' via a viciously spooked
effect. It's the freeform drumming and corrosive drops of guitar
that give this beast its menacing tone. It falls apart in a thrilling,
improvised mess, leaving nothing more than static as the tape grinds
to a halt. Final track, 'Magic Seed' again recalls Morrissey or
Robert Smith, a perfect photograph of melancholy 80s indie pop complete
with some very Johnny Marr-style guitar.
Honestly, there aren't enough positive words in
the dictionary to describe this album, which is both an excellent
addition to the Blast First catalogue, and also a worthy classic
guitar pop album. Oh for a follow up...
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