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Stained Glass Heroes - Stationary / Invader Paul
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by ben marwood
  • Type: Single
  • Release date: 16/04/2007
  • Label: Genepool Records
  • Info: Ltd. 7" release

You’d expect a band with a drummer called Tagistani Collinparker Rentman Bubble & Squeak to be slightly out of the ordinary, and Stained Glass Heroes seem to be doing their darnedest not to disappoint: the AA-sided ‘Stationary / Invader Paul’ is one part ‘80s-style electro and one part poetic art-school meanderings.

The former is a robotic electro number with guitars, synths and a tinny drum sound, whilst ‘Invader Paul’ begins life with a sinister guitar riff over rumbles of thunder before switching suddenly to simply-constructed lo-fi art-rock with Butler half singing, half mouthing-off. Mixed high throughout, his half-shouting, half out-of-tune singing will doubtless divide opinion, especially on the second track.

From this description it might sound unappealing – and on first listen it probably will be – but after a while little chinks of light shine through. The guitar part at the end of the chorus for ‘Invader Paul’, for instance, complements the vocal line near-perfectly, before returning to its thumping, mundane verse. Perhaps all this would be better with higher production values, as the lo-fi approach doesn’t flatter the Heroes’ sound in any way, leaving them sounding a little too sparse and disjointed.

But maybe the problem is that the ‘80s was an era which many consider to be a musical wasteland best left alone. On the evidence of ‘Stationary’ / ‘Invader Paul’ you’d be hard pushed to argue otherwise, despite its few praiseworthy twists.

  • Stained Glass Heroes 5 / 10
Words: ben marwood

a quirky band

this band is lots of fun live and they love what they do. that being said they aren't doing music because they want to be big, but they are doing it because the just love it. i think that their single reflects that. go see them live!


Contradiction

Strange, your description sounds anything but unappealing. I'll be looking out for a copy!





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