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Opening like an approximation of 21st century easy listening music, Garden Tiger Moth doesn't waste too much time before shape-shifting into the breathy pop of The Grand Lunar and something of Cane141's organ drenched, cut-and-paste method is revealed. With the episodic assembly of a scrapbook, the band maintains its dreamy tones throughout, whether the songs are raw acoustic strums or garnished by Joy Division-like washes of keyboard, mournful trumpet echoes, faltering melodica lines or a sound reminiscent of a less drone-fascinated Stereolab. Real Spacemen Never Walk Anywhere is an instrumental that drfits on swathes of static, analogue pulses and a slow-picked guitar arpeggio. As appealing a mix as that might sound, it does come across like an extended introduction in search of a song. But when the songs come, they're beguiling and seductive, like Scene from 6am, with its swaying repetition of, "I've loved you this long/ I hope I always will." And if that seems a little too much like bedwetter's music, then it's not long before the sincere balladry is brushed aside for the lighter electronic noodle of a coda. Like the spoken narration that distinguishes Me and Michael, it's a counterpoint that ensures Garden Tiger Moth steers clear of ruts and repetitions on their starry-eyed road.

Martin Williams
CWAS #7 - Spring 2001

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