Taking a step back from the vast scope and experimentalism of their brilliant, sprawling album
Precious Falling,
Quickspace's Matador debut,
The Death of Quickspace, hones in on the group's precarious, invigorating fusion of giddy noise bursts and moody, hypnotic lock grooves. Songs like "They Shoot Horse Don't They" and "The Lobbalong Song" feature their signature mix of rolling drums, bubbling keyboards, and twining, chiming melodies, but surprisingly thrashy guitars slash through "Munchers No Munchers," "Lob It," and "4," making this album the group's most raucous to date. Though the cascading,11-minute epic "Climbing a Hill" doesn't quite achieve the liftoff that most of
Quickspace's extended pieces accomplish effortlessly, the band more than makes up for that with two of their finest pop confections, "Gloriana" and "A Rose." As sunny and winding as a country road in the summertime, both songs blend sweet harmonies, pastoral fiddles, slide guitars, and the otherworldy theremins that always hover around the periphery of
Quickspace's songs. Though
Precious Falling is a hard act to follow, much like their first album and early singles,
The Death of Quickspace makes its sneaky way into the listener's affections, creeping up and offering something surprising when it's least expected.