“muscular, harmonic, swinging indie-pop from a Belfast band who recently swapped drummer for a drum-machine and are not showing any signs of missing him”

more of his HWCH thoughts here

to celebrate, you can now ‘pay what you want‘ for downloads of our new album, and our lovely gatefold CD album is still only £5.99!

Look out for this issue to read the full review:

Thanks Guys!

“These are tales of trampled hearts and souls … its the stuff of all humankind. What’s rare and worth cherishing is the poetic flair with which Escape Act navigate these much weathered narratives. Their uncanny knack for creating surging, senses-filling melodies – all shuddering guitars, yearning vocals and racing beyond the speed limits rhythms – further helps illuminate their lyrical manuscript.

With more hooks than an abattoir and slab upon slab of bristling melodies, most strikingly on Corpses Candle and Kings Have Fallen, Loosely Based On Fiction is indie rock in excelsis.”

Chris also spoke to Colin Carberry a few weeks ago and the interview appears in the Hit The North column in the same issue. Colin had this to say…

“Loosely Based On Fiction – the debut album by the Belfast three-piece is as comfortable making a massive clatter as it is conjuring up sing-song melodies. On one hand, the buzz-saw guitars, brittle production, and lurches into unhinged noise would see it nestle comfortably alongside your Husker Du, Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr records. On the other hand the wide-eyed choruses, smart lyrical observations, and giddy pop-sensibility means it can slip in just as easily beside Orange Juice, Franz Ferdinand and even The Jam.”

“These are songs to make your inner indie boy rejoice. The debut album from Belfast’s Escape Act, Loosely Based On Fiction drips indie melodies like tears from the sainted eyes of Morrissey. It’s a beautiful, heart-bursting experience. Hearing ‘Kings Have Fallen’ is like being impaled on a shaft of sunlight, the guitar and voice racing hand-in-hand like young lovers.

Meanwhile, former single, ‘God Says’ throws a Pixies freakout before sliding into a chorus as golden sweet as a vat of honey. What’s particularly encouraging here is that these songs are as lyrically imaginative as they are tuneful; phrases are bent winningly out of shape and the vocabulary is extended into the poetic. Indeed, the later ‘Sullied Behave For The Moon’ – all coiled power and evocative atmospherics – and the obscenely catchy final one-two of ‘Corpses Candle’ and ‘Broken Chin’ suggest that this is a band deserving of a place amongst the highest echelons of Northern Irish alt. rock.”

03.11.08: ESCAPE ACT
Belfast trio Escape Act recently completed a MUZU TV session in Dublin, though that’s not the reason we are tipping them, though it does mean we’ll be able to plug them again later in the month when the results of that session go online. But these guys definitely deserve your attention right now. Single release ‘God Says’ is a good start, though the Springsteen-aping arena stomp of ‘Cabin Fever’ is their best offering, meeting the ethereal Brit-rock of Doves with the melancholy, shoe gazing vocals of Teenage Fanclub. If this sounds like your thing then you’ve no reason not to explore, particularly given that they’re giving away their album, ‘Loosely Based On Fiction’, entirely free through various channels.

check it and other tipped bands here: http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/unsigned/index.html

I think you’ll agree that it’s been a momentous day for us all. Yes, a few hours ago it was announced by Niall Byrne of State Magazine that our sixth track ‘Corpses Candle’ has been released on their MP3 blog.

“‘Corpses Candle’ … reminds us of the indie majesty of Whipping Boy’s Heartworm”

Click here to read Niall’s thoughts and get the track

Thanks also to Nick for his continuing support and encouragement.

Rich

“…a blistering burst of Undertones punk guitar and Morrisseyesque vocal that’ll have you jumping round the room like a kangeroo on a pogo stick.”

read it in full at: http://besttuna.blogspot.com/2008/08/break-down-walls-its.html

‘”God Says” is a 2.5 minute powerhouse of a record … as infectious as an STD and as much fun as getting it…Top Class.’

read the full review, and check out some more great tunes at http://boxsetgo.blogspot.com/2008/08/four-to-floor-boxsetgo-ep.html

cheers Garrett

and of the flipside, Tom McShane’s Fighter: “Slow burning lament, touched with melancholy and exploding into falsetto when the emotion calls for it, a touching song from an artist with a pure soul…”

Click here to buy the 7″ vinyl (with 4 track download), or buy them all from iTunes!