Insect Guide – Dark Days & Nights

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As much as every man who’s ever stood behind you at a festival might drunkenly try to convince you that the musical highlight of the past 1000 years, Britpop has a lot to answer for. Punk might’ve given the masses the chance to form their own band no matter what their skill level, but had they been forced to listen to the last few albums Oasis banged out, they might not have bothered. It’s not suprising, then, that upcoming bands steer clear of the late ninties as a source of inspiration and look further into the past for inspiration – though not much further in the case of Insect Guide.

From their base in Leeds, the threesome have crafted the follow up to their debut album 6ft in Love using the same palette of influences. The C86 generation might not have ever fully blossomed in its own time, but the trademark sound has been resurgent in recent years. The Pains of being Pure at Heart have been the most obvious beneficiaries, but Dark Days & Nights is Insect Guide’s own bid for such accreditation. Standing in the shadow of My Bloody Valentine is always an excellent starting point, but there’s only so much a group can grow when they’re so obviously stood at the base of such a musical colossus.

The 10 tracks that make up the album are, for their part, beautifully executed. Typically, there’s a lot going on beneath the shimmering surface of these shimmering pop efforts, and repeat listens on increase the sense of a barely concealed darkness at the core of each of the release. The jangly guitars that are a trademark of any such release aren’t quite so prominent as they might have been, but the shoegaze sound that the album basks in is so authentic that it actually feels much more like a re-release from the early 90’s than something contemporary.

There has been a lot of time and effort thrown at this release, and it really shows. At just under 30 minutes, it’s hardly the most lengthy of efforts, but it feels lavish and has a relative broad focus, which is just about pulls off. On final track ‘Hearts Don’t Nreak’, the trio craft a ballad that fills you with an acute sense of yearning, whilst opener ‘Wasted’ has the atmospheric feel of an arena pop song, and all the tracks in between fill in the spectrum between. However, in amongst all the undeniable beauty, it’s difficult to find anything especially groundbreaking in Dark Days & Nights. Even barring the historical comparisons, there are lots of bands around at the minute stomping on similar territory – from bigger acts such as Sad Day for Puppets down to bands like Bristol’s The Fauns. It is a wonderful and thoroughly engaging effort, but there’s very little about the sound that’s progressive. It may be impressive, but it’s difficult not to feel that they’ve come to the party too late, stagnating in a sound that felt dead two decades ago. A anachronism, but an astoundingly beautiful one.