Eskimo: Loverbatim

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * * )

Guitarist-vocalist Dave Mulcahy gave JPS Experience its lumbering aggressive streak, and it served him pretty well too through a fine single album with Superette, and a DIY solo effort.

Now he's back at full volume as one third of Eskimo, which teams him with bassist Rob Mayes (head of long-time Christchurch guitar label Failsafe) and drummer Michael Daly.

Loverbatim starts out as infectious fuzzpop, big on dreamy melodies, airy choruses and loopy pop hooks. It's an album that begins relatively friendly on the fuzzpop firecracker Evergreen then gets neatly nastier through its 11 high-voltage tracks.

There is a sub-metal streak around the centre of the album with the likes of Arrow, Smile and Kill The Phone, and others sounding like they could have picked up where the likes of the Smashing Pumpkins and Billy Corgan's subsequent band Zwan left off.

On Kiss Telly and the gentle finale Cul De Sac they aren't too far away from that other branch of this band's family tree, the Stereo Bus, while From America With Love waves its anti-US protest banner over a Lennonesque vocal and major guitar chug loud enough to suggest they should change their name to Shihad.

Bold stuff and highly recommended.

Label: Failsafe