First appeared on Never Enough Notes on June 18 2010
Released on June 21 2010 on Trash Aesthetics
Unfortunately, dictionaries are for words not phrases but if they were then the definition of Middle Of The Road (or MOR for fans of pretentious abbreviations) would be this album. Treecreeper are from Wendover, a sleepy village between Oxford and London. Wendover is somewhere, after a sneaky look on Google Streetview, I imagine weary travellers may have stopped back in the ‘olden days’, tethering their trusty horses outside the local pub as they travelled between the two cities. Juniper is a good theme to being trapped somewhere like this in a state of depression.
It could be argued that the re-released album should be compared to a long, lolloping summer’s afternoon; the tracks are all very thoughtful and self indulgent in length, the work of tortured souls who write poetry alone and lament what could have been.
The highlight, the only track which sounds like it was played with a band with some kind of enthusiasm for life, is the instrumental ‘Crossing’, a lovely summery affair but sadly only 50 seconds long.
‘November 23rd ‘ is a slightly redeeming feature finishing the album, a slightly different if mediocre song. It has a more filthy blues feel, like a smoky bar in a slow motion film scene. I imagine the protagonist is about to come face to face with his sweaty arch enemy or a couple is about to enrol in some up close and personal time as a band plays.
The rest of the album is seriously miserable but in a wanting to tear your hair out and throw the stereo out of the window way, not a self-indulgent have a good cry way. Everything has been levelled out to give one big drone of Americana on extra slow setting.
Maybe I just don’t get it.
3/10
Amy Hall 