Crispy Ambulance Powder Blind Dream CD

One reunion album by Crispy Ambulance was almost too good to be true for hardcore fans, but the quartet kept on going after Scissorgun to produce another fine disc in the form of The Powder Blind Dream. Working again with producer/longtime fan Graham Massey, the quartet shows that the snarling, tense energy evident from their return hasn't dissipated -- if anything, Crispy Ambulance is an even more focused and fierce machine this time around. The swirling synth-murmur start to "Quarter Caste" leads into a rampaging, brawling arrangement, Alan Hempsall's immediately recognizable vocals as compelling as Robert Davenport's guitars or the steady rhythm blast of Gary Madeley and Keith Darbyshire. With that as a great calling card for the quartet, Powder Blind Dream continues from there in just as excellent a fashion. If on the one hand it may seem like the band still explores familiar territory -- Hempsall's mantra-like choruses, a thick, rich sound overall from the whole band -- in turn it's even more their own unique sound in a time of post-punk revivalism, a clear continuation from where they started without simply rehashing. An ear for snippets of samples and almost left-field elements -- the gasping gurgle vocal break on "Triphammer," the deep tolling bells helping start "Lucifer Rising," the wonderful percussion-on-top-of-percussion overload on the instrumental "Four Line Whip," the almost soothing descending keyboard melody on "Pain and Pleasure" -- means that one can never quite predict what's next on the album, which still never loses the band's core sonic approach. Meanwhile, such moments as the inspiring call-and-response chorus on "Evil Eye" -- a loud rush balanced against the quieter but no less driving verses -- and the extended instrumental introduction to "Any Second Now," with piano taking a prominent role, are just great rock & roll moments, full stop. ~ Ned Raggett