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Jul 27, 2009 The Big Pink By Kyle Lemmon

Stop the World begins with a harbinger of the destruction to come: the slow pop and hiss of a turntable. This reminder of the fragility quickly erupts into what the London noise rock duo once described to me as “an apocalypse of love harps.” Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell’s feedback-drenched environs have demanded attention since their runaway debut single, “Velvet,” hit the blogosphere. They blend the best parts of shoegaze and industrial experimentation with the anthemic sensibility of a pop track. “Stop the World,” and its exclusive B-side, “Crushed Water,” aren’t as mind-blowing as “Velvet” but they get the job done.

“Stop the World” is clearly the better produced side of the 7-inch, since it was mixed/recorded at New York’s legendary Electric Ladyland Studios, where their forthcoming debut was put to tape. Mixer Rich Costey (Interpol, Glasvegas, The Mars Volta, Muse) lends his studio gloss only enough to amplify the grit Cordell and Furze have scraped together. An R&B-like beat is enveloped by a cyclone of buzzes and whirs and Furze’s punk vocals. As the second verse starts, “loveless” is clearly heard and immediately reminds you of My Bloody Valentine.

The Big Pink are much stranger beast though and “Crushed Water” bears that assertion out. This is the epitome of a B-side. Haunting, slightly freak folk vocals start the cut but “Water” stays in its own mire. Only a Velvet Underground-like guitar line cuts through the Slowdive-on-tranquillizers vibe. Taking “Crushing Water” into consideration, Stop the World will never be Velvet or even Dominos but with A Brief History of Love coming out in the fall, it doesn’t have to be either. (www.musicfromthebigpink.com)

Author rating: 5/10