CD Review  

Blue Drift
 "Cobalt Coast"

Rating 78%

reviewed by Charlie O'Mara

It's great to see Cider Prog rearing it's facially haired head again, this time in the form of Wiltshires Blue Drift, a band made up of current and ex-Morriganians Arch and Dave Lodden, and Dave's bro John.

The album starts off with the lively Slingshot Around The Moon which, I feel, captures the current It Bites Reformation feel of the nation perfectly, while Cobalt Coast drifts pleasantly into almost Coastprogger territory, evoking memories of Jadis and Big Big Train. A Saturday afternoon at Whitchurch with a pitcher of ale beckons, methinks. The Eighth Room picks up the baton and ambles with it through another thoroughly pleasing progressive meadow, in a way that is so unlike Marillion as to make any comparison pointless.

Freak Weather follows with it's lazy yet energetic feel. I can totally imagine the scene at Whit, playing this, a heavy yet aromatic fug surrounding the crowd, the pissed guy snoring by the stage, the stoned couple wigging out on the side, not to mention the totally oblivious kids playing 'tag' nearby. Nearly 14 minutes of mellow madness is chased by the freaky jazziness of Cape Canaveral, the crazy marching marchness of The Battle of Morton Ridge all in the blink of Thom Yorkes squinty eye.

Penultimate track Sprit borrows heavily from the book of Oriental Influences, where so many stars have left deposits before. It would be very easy to compare the last track Drift Glass to early Genesis, so I won't. But it does have that dreamy "Supper's Ready! I'll be there in a minute" feel to it. In no time at all it seems that 10 minutes have flown bye. Fantastic.

My mate Jacque saw them at the recent Erotic Rock Festival in Cornwall this summer and he reckons they were better than the sex that was freely available outside. But he is a bit gay in that respect.