Gemini Bound

It took me about two weeks to track down a copy of this CD (it wasn't available on Amazon at the time and since then I have been addicted. Last night for example I managed to sleep all the way through until 5am before the chorus from 'Flipside' interrupted my dreaming and prompted me to get up and don headphones for my first fix of the day.

So, as I sit here, headphones on, waiting for dawn to arrive I'll take you though it.

We being with a throbbing bass line and overdriven guitars punctuated by twittering pulses of filter-swept analogue synth sounds and Ryan introduces us to his 'Funky Girl' with his distinctive, powerful and melodic vocals.

The echoing piano that introduces the title track 'Gemini Bound' makes me nervous and if the deep moody guitar doesn't persuade me that sitting in the dark isn't something that I'm comfortable with then the haunting vocal certainly does. It lightens up for the catchy (or should I say addictive?) chorus but don't be deceived as you're likely to soil yourself when the piano kicks in for the middle 8.

Predictably 'Samurai' has an oriental feel to the synths and there are occasional snatches of acoustic guitar in amongst the electrics but you could be forgiven for not even noticing because by now Ryan is really showing what his vocal talent is capable of and it really is impressive.

If the previous track had lifted us from the darkness of the second then 'Pariah' plunges us right back into the abyss. I clearly remember this track from their live show and it's been responsible for me losing a lot of sleep ever since. It's quite different from the previous tracks in that it is dominated by synth strings and flickering analogue blips and bubbling pulses. Ryan waits around a dark corner but caresses us with a harmony that makes me feel like I'm being mugged by an angel.

'Flipside' lulls us into a false sense of security with it's opening acoustic guitar arpeggios and slow melancholy vocal but the chorus hits like a tidal wave and sweeps us back into the realms hot, sticky, tortured, sleepless nights. The track ends with the acoustic guitar but there is no comfort here...

...and we're thrown back into the action for 'Strap-On Massacre' and I realise that the hairs on the back of my neck are bristling. This song could so easily become and anthem and I expect to see audiences leaping up and down to it at future gigs. Whatever you do don't play it in the car as a speeding ticket is possibly the least dangerous consequence of the adrenaline rush.

'Crowman' is seriously scary in a big production kind of way. Bell like guitar arpeggios run throughout with synth strings and brass sounds punctuating the tortured vocal.

'Skin Show' is a profusion of distorted guitar with Ryan's vocal getting so hot it might just crack up if he wasn't so bloody good. This is a catchy, lifting track so you can just bet you know what's coming next...

...and 'Spectra' puts us firmly behind the sofa, safety blanket in hand. It lures us out for the chorus with a melody like the comfort of a cool cloth on a fevered brow but be warned that the piano on the middle 8 could turn this into a cold sweat before it hugs us and reassures us that everything will be okay. You know it's coming don't you?

'Pheromone Fiend' is the fastest track on the album and while the percussion nails you to the floor the guitarist revs up his chain saw and assists Ryan in pumping you so full of energy that you shake.

The final track 'Rivers' has another rhythm that is the aural equivalent of a strobe light and Ryan pleads for some honest answers with a sincerity and harmony that is truly moving and exhilarating.

As the counter on the CD player resets I am tingling in the silence and, although I realise that it won't help my predicament, my finger is already reaching for the play button.