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Although I can't quite grasp the sci-fi aesthetics and media-induced hype surrounding Messrs Webb JR, Beyond The Biosphere remains, for the most part, a feature-packed half hour of compelling entertainment. On first listen it's a fired-up new wave throwback, the Costello-ish Sour Grapes and classic sub-two minute indie thrust of Cold Fingers a kick up the backside of post-rock insularity. Then the delicate repetition of What Have We Become, the resigned harmonies of the title track and brooding cello of She Drifts Into My Room remind you this is no teen-combo with their eyes set on a fast buck. Beneath their red-suited sheen, The Webb Brothers focus on the mundane with unerring conviction, the negativity of The Filth Of It All articulated eloquently in lines such as 'Just can't get used to the filth of the world climbing through my bedroom window. She smells like sin, I wonder where she's been sleeping tonight.' And with the ironic 'clap your hands' refrain of closer I'm Over And I Know It, The Webb Brothers close proceedings with their own 'Rock'n'Roll Suicide'. It's a dark world that lies Beyond The Biosphere.

Matt Dornan
CWAS #4 - Winter 1998/9 - The Lost Issue

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