Despite approaching only its fourth birthday, John Twells’ Type Records imprint has covered quite a lot of ground; releasing a relatively broad spectrum of sounds without ever compromising its ‘brand’. Whether it was the sparse piano pieces of Goldmund, the low key jazz-folk of Mountaineer, Liz Harris’ reverb heavy melancholy, Richard Skelton’s pastoral landscapes or even Twells’ own apocalyptic static under his Xela moniker, it all felt like a natural fit. I knew little of Altar Eagle before hearing this release aside from the fact it was on Type, so probably up my street. Even given all of the above though (and Brad Rose’s The North Sea outings being released on the label), Mechanical Gardens is one record which not only sits a little awkwardly amongst such company but feels somewhat detached within itself.

For the similarly un-initiated Altar Eagle is the husband/wife duo of Brad Rose and Eden Hemming-Rose, who are also known for running the rather good Digitalis label. It’s through their own label that they’ve previously released limited cassettes of Altar Eagle material (as well as recordings under their own names and as Eagle Alter and Corsican Paintbrush) and now make the move to Type for this project’s first full length CD release. Not too surprisingly then they flirt with a few different styles across it’s running time and, despite adhering to a relatively strict aesthetic of hazy reverbed synth and artificial beats draped in gauzy vocals, things do get a little uneven.

They’re at their best on tracks such as opener ‘Battlegrounds’ which bubbles into life with saccharine Au Revoir Simone type harmonies and quixotic spacey vibes. This blissed out naivety carries across in to ‘Honey’ and reinforces those comparisons, particularly with Hemming-Rose’s feathery light vocals. ‘Breakdown’ on the other hand is more akin to Nite Jewel’s brand of lo-fi funk, albeit without the sultry allure of Ramona Gonzalez’ vocals. Things slowly drift out of control with the appropriately titled ‘You Lost Your Neon Haze’ which along with ‘B’nai B’rith Girls’ seems to signal a segue into a much more psychedelic and almost immediately forgettable sound.

‘Monsters’ ramps the tempo up considerably with a flat house beat drenched in feedback whilst reels of unintelligible phrases unspool repeatedly over the top. This is a template employed as a few of the later tracks try to gather some momentum, and whilst the chanting on ‘Pour Your Dark Heart Out’ does briefly inject proceedings with a much needed swell of purpose which cuts through the buttery production, it’s all too brief. A return to ethereal twee for the end means these tracks in the middle jar horribly and ruin the whole tone of the album, whether or not this was intentional I can’t be certain but it really does taint the listening experience of an otherwise nice album.