Review: The Chemistry Set - The Endless More And More

The Chemistry Set are true veterans of the UK neo-psych scene; formed in 1987 they have been gaining plaudits from all corners since (the legend that is John Peel was a fan!). In recent years they have also become a mainstay on Fruits de Mer records, appearing on the label's club member exclusives, including a blinding cover of 'See Emily Play' on the 'A Momentary Lapse of Vinyl', and five 7". January 2016 sees Fruits de Mer releasing 'The Endless More and More', a full length album on gold vinyl and limited to 600 copies.

'The Endless More And More' channels both sixties psych and the Paisley Underground of the eighties to great effect. The songwriting is of the highest standard and the melodies infectious. 'The Splendour of the Universe' begins with a fanfare of brass before some lovely harmonised vocals and acoustic guitar intertwine to make a track that could have been lifted directly off the 'Children of Nuggets' boxset. 'The Fountains Of Neptune' lifts the tempo with some vibrato guitar and organ working together to produce a punchy, driving track. The organ gives it an sixties authenticity and some fab spacey synth effects towards the end rubber stamp the neo-psych credentials. 'International Rescue' has an introduction that reminded me of The Monkees (and in my book, that is a very good thing!) and the chiming guitar is straight from the eighties psych revival. 'Time To Breath' begins with the discordant sound of a radio being tuned, fleeting sounds of different stations glimpsed briefly before we are treated to a gorgeous pastoral ballad. Highly evocative of the sixties, the lyrical nature of the track highlights just how good this band are re: songwriting. 'Come Kiss Me Vibrate and Smile' is a garage rock stomper complete with, what sounds like, a farfisa organ and rousing chorus. 'Winter Sun' is acknowledged by the band themselves as being influenced by Traffic circa 'Mr Fantasy', not being au fait with that LP myself, all I know is that 'Winter Sun' is another slow, acoustic-driven track and is a beautiful piece of music and comes complete with some lovely sitar sounding guitar. 'Albert Hoffman' is probably the most out-and-out psychedelic track on the album and, if you didn't know better, you would think it was a Syd Barrett composition with the same humour and whimsical quality. 'A Cure For The Inflicted Afflicted' is a another uptempo number and has an eighties indie rock feel about it, it has a nice fuzzy guitar riff and a killer solo which sounds almost incongruous with the rest of the album. 'The Canyon Of The Crescent Moon' sees normal service resumed with another sixties inflected slice of neo-psych complete with organ and more wonderful lyrics...probably my favourite track. 'Crawling Back To You' is a very Beatlesque track; the song as the same structure and lyrical quality as the Fab Four circa Abbey Road / Revolver. This track really showcases the band's quality, both lyrically and as musicians..a tour de force. 'Elapsed Memories' starts as a folky number but quickly evolves into another psych number (think The Byrds if they were from London rather than West Coast US). Those who are au fait with the FdM catalogue will be aware that this track originally appeared as a FdM 7" earlier in the year, backed with a cover of Hendrix's 'Love Or Confusion'. 'The Open Window' closes the album in fine style; another lovely slice of sixties psych with sitar and tabla over a lovely drone.

'The Endless More And More' sees The Chemistry Set bring all their experience, craft and musicianship to the table and they have produced an album that is sublime. The lyrics shine forth throughout the album like poetic beacons in the dark, and the music itself shows variety and creativity, and never falls short of excellence. When this goes up for pre-order on the Fruits de Mer site, be sure to get in fast as this will fly! In the meantime, head over to the band's Facebook page on November 3rd as they will be premiering a song and video from the album.