Slipstream - Transcendental
(Enraptured)
On the list of Spacemen 3 offshoots, Slipstream has long been shoved aside and ignored as the extraneous also-ran in a list that includes more than its fair share of extraneous also-rans. Spectrum, Spiritualized, Experimental Audio Research, Darkside, Alphastone, Ubik, and even the dreaded Lupine Howl all seem to receive more fan and media attention than this pair of early Spiritualized defectors (OK, mebbe not Ubik). Which is just fine, because it makes Transcendental that much more shocking and satisfying, both as a comeback and as the group's obvious masterpiece.
Releasing their first album since 1997, Mark Refoy and Jon Mattock compile recordings that span six years and come up with a disc's worth of sweet, spacey blissout that often manages to transcend the band's spacepop palate and push into modestly epic territory. Stunningly consistent, the result is often something like a budget version of Spiritualized's dope symphonies, and that ain't no backhanded compliment. In fact, the simpler melodies and leaner instrumental tracks on Transcendental pack as much punch song-for-song in their ingenious economy as do Jason Pierce's bloated, narrow-focus hymns. There's real attention to songwriting and mood here; these guys aren't just lazily trying to blow you away with hollow volume and scale.
Rather than embarrassing themselves by forcing currently-hep 21st century fads and gimmicks onto their songs (no dance beats here), Slipstream have wisely made a record firmly rooted in the sounds of the early 1990s, owing much to Refoy and Mattock's work with late-period Spacemen 3 and Lazer Guided Melodies-era Spiritualized: check the dreamy, repetitious instrumentals "Afterburn," "Sophie's Blues," and "Midnight Train" (a dead ringer for early live Spz). The numbers with more traditional pop structures run the gamut from glorious psych marches ("Just You and Me"); to delicate, Spectrum-style love songs ("Everything and Anything"); to meaty, noisy space rockers ("Healing Hands").
Slipstream are unpretentious, underestimated overachievers, and this album is a happy surprise for fans, one that should also obliterate the complaints of lingering nay-sayers. If there's any justice in the psych world, Transcendental will bring Refoy and co. some long overdue respect and spawn a speedy follow-up.
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