Spring Offensive – Pull Us Apart

The Oxford based Spring Offensive have started to make waves over the last year or so with their sparse recorded sound and introverted almost claustrophobic sound – even being Huw Stephen’s “Pick of the week” on BBC Radio1 and for good reason.

I’ll admit it took me a while to get into them after Pop Noodle sent over some material a few months back, but I think that probably had more to do with my state of mind at the time. They have new 13 minute (brave I know!) single coming out in a couple of weeks, so I gave them another listen and was so pleased I did.

The menace and smouldering aggression that sits behind I Found Myself Smiling is palpable and it is in these quieter, softer songs that I feel their talent lies. The slow burning The Cable Routine is my favourite on the album, as they keep their sparse recordings, but overlay that with almost marching drums and and vocals that sway between desperation and dark folk harmonies.

But not everything on Pull Us Apart is so dark. The album closes on the intricate, delicate and wistfully hopeful Little Evening. The song structure is simple with just clean guitar and vocal harmonies, but as with many of these records it is just because they leave so much space in the soundscape that you are able to appreciate each part so much more.

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