Album Review
Pegasuses
Sea Of Joy
via Bandcamp and Streaming platforms
Bespoke CD’s from the band on request
Out Now!
Debut album from Southampton band, described variously as ‘close-harmony superstars’ and ‘neo-vintage-gothic-country’ by reviewer Dan O’Farrell
What’s your favourite sound in music? James Brown’s scream? Pete Townshend’s Rickenbacker crunch? Hope Sandoval’s whispery sigh? All these are valid choices for sure (and many others are available) but for me – often – I come to the conclusion that the best sound of all is the sweet blend of a perfectly constructed two or three-part harmony: human voices intertwining in a sonic double-helix so that the sum is suddenly a thousand times greater than its parts. It’s why I could listen to The Everly Brothers sing a phone-book, why I got hooked on country music and why even the worst bloated excesses of Crosby, Stills & Nash (with or without that other bloke) can still induce a feeling of wonder in the unsuspecting heart. All of which is a roundabout way to encourage you to have a listen to the debut album from the bearers of one of the purest and loveliest vocal-blends to commit original music to tape in many years…Southampton’s own close-harmony superstars: Pegasuses.
To the first-time listener, the name is an eye-catching stumbling-block. Pegasuses? Pegasus is the flying horse, yes? But two (or more) of him? Greedy…but better than Pegasi. That would be silly. There’s something in the myth and magic of the playful name that captures the slightly off-kilter feel of this truly special band, however, and if you want to corral a whole herd of musical flying-horses, ‘Sea of Joy’ is an excellent place to park your golden chariot.
Pegasuses are built around the husband-and-wife singing and song-writing duo of Dave Miatt and Laura Lamb. Over the last few years they’ve played loads of gigs around Hampshire as a perfectly formed two-piece, their keening vocal blend soaring delicately over Dave’s intricate and melodic ‘Jim Dandy’ acoustic-guitar picking. For this, their debut album, they’ve added a full sonic palette with producer Russell Marsden (taking a break from fronting Band of Skulls) adding pleasingly restrained drums and lashings of subtle ‘ambience’, plus pedal-steel from the excellent Mike Davies (recently heard performing with another Southampton legend, Lucy Kitchen, and now promoted to a full-time Pegasi (Pegasuarus?)).Of course, all this sweet-sounding Americana/folk-tinged loveliness wouldn’t survive a second listen if the songs weren’t up to scratch. Luckily – spoiler alert – the Pegasuses’ repertoire is a beautiful collection of what can only be described as ‘neo-vintage-gothic-country’ classics, all written by the duo, and all feeling coherently cut from the same gingham cloth…if the cloth is a coarse gingham printed on unstarched linen, with slightly disturbing blood-stains on the edges.
The melodies and moods of many of these songs feel timeless, like lost Hank Williams sheet-music or a recently discovered trove of ‘78s buried beneath the Grand Ole Opry’s floorboards, but the story-telling lyrics add a fresh sheen of modern playfulness to the innocence of the tunes. Take ‘All Hail’, where a mother’s ode to her unborn child shifts from the saccharine sweetness of a nursey-rhyme lullaby to something much darker: ‘I suspect they did not feel these things – must’ve been the flutter of his wings…the midwife fainted when she saw the tail…and hooves’. It’s like The Louvin Brothers have suddenly been possessed by The Butthole Surfers. Or the laugh-so-you-don’t-cry horror of ‘Follow Him Down’ – the tale of a child so ugly that his parents have removed all the mirrors from the house – ending in the most tragically devastating scene of fatality-strewn family ice-skating that I’ve ever been forced to imagine.
Elsewhere, the Dave-fronted ‘Emily’ seems to narrate both a tragic love-story and the history of American music from the point of view of a frustrated musician circa 1958-1964, bemoaning ‘All those blues-rock English bands/ flogging records to our fans…those clowns from Liverpool/ don’t know what’s really cool’. Once more, the melody pulls you in and the lyrics make you want to know more. All you can do is hit ‘repeat’.
Every tune is a gently insistent ear-worm, leading to the kind of album where every listen reveals a new favourite. First single ‘Goodnight Ricky’ tells (I think…it’s all kind of marvellously mysterious and opaque) the tale of a washed-up artist ‘there aren’t too many truffles left to find/ and the world tells you to toughen up your rind’ whilst the shimmeringly pretty ‘My Friend The Moon’ should really have been the theme tune for the Artemis II coverage, in the same way that ‘Space Oddity’ ruled the waves when Armstrong and Aldrin were bouncing about in lunacy. Album closer ‘Snowglobe’ provides a rare example of a (mostly) solo lead-vocal, giving Laura a chance to unleash a Lana Del Rey-esque croon, shrouded in reverb and a doo-wop-esque melody. It’s all gorgeous stuff.
Russell Marsden’s production is careful not to tread on the band’s key strength – the simplicity of their live magic is preserved for the most part – but cleverly gives the band moments where the canvas widens and a bigger sound can fill the room; carnival-esqe keyboard flourishes and meaty kettle-drums abound. It’s a delicate balancing act and skilfully done.
Give yourself a palette-cleanse and spend a happy forty minutes swimming with Pegasuses in the ‘Sea of Joy’ – you’ll never want to leave.
Pegasuses’ website is here, with a bandcamp page here and you can follow them on instagram here.
~
All words by Dan O’Farrell. More writing by Dan can be found at his author’s archive. Dan is also on Instagram as @DOF_AND_THE_DIFFERENCE_ENGINE
A Plea From Louder Than War
Louder Than War is run by a small but dedicated independent team, and we rely on the small amount of money we generate to keep the site running smoothly. Any money we do get is not lining the pockets of oligarchs or mad-cap billionaires dictating what our journalists are allowed to think and write, or hungry shareholders. We know times are tough, and we want to continue bringing you news on the most interesting releases, the latest gigs and anything else that tickles our fancy. We are not driven by profit, just pure enthusiasm for a scene that each and every one of us is passionate about.
To us, music and culture are eveything, without them, our very souls shrivel and die. We do not charge artists for the exposure we give them and to many, what we do is absolutely vital. Subscribing to one of our paid tiers takes just a minute, and each sign-up makes a huge impact, helping to keep the flame of independent music burning! Please click the button below to help.
John Robb – Editor in Chief
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO LTW
Leave a comment