Errors – Come Down With Me

When it comes to music recommendations, I should hope that most people would put their trust in Mogwai. In their illustrious past they have championed notable acts such as Fuck Buttons, Part Chimp, Torche and the subject of this review, Errors. Having signed them up to Rock Action the moment the electronically afflicted Glaswegian’s started causing a bit of a commotion in 2004, Errors have repaid the favour with a string of impressive releases, of which Come Down With Me can be added with ease.Reassuringly, this latest release isn’t a major redefinition of the Errors way of doing things. Tight, intricate passages of melody causally caress the majority of tracks on offer here, with the whole thing sounding like a distant cousin of Air who has been listening to Sigur Rós and MGMT records. ‘Bridge Or Cloud’ is one such example of this collusion, an intro that mixes angelic murmurs with a rising bassline, gently introducing you to the world of Errors.One of the greatest boons of Come Down With Me is the vast spectrum of inspiration it takes from other bands, with enough renovation and individual tricks to make those inspirations more of a nod of respect than ham-fisted plagiarism. There’s more than a hint of Kid A amongst tracks like ‘Supertribe’, where the whole thing seems to float on a bumpy seabed of tuneful bassnotes whilst ‘Antipode’ seems to take a leaf out of This Will Destroy You’s book, a plaintive guitar melody fumbling about in the dark, gloomy background.I was surprised to read somewhere that Errors have drawn comparisons with Battles. Whilst it’s true that both bands are indebted to the world of electronic music, Errors surprisingly offer a completely different take on the genre. Rather than the otherworldly goofball antics of Battles, Errors know that their skill is in composing bite-sized, tight snippets of melody and groove. Hence the majority of tracks being sub-four minutes, and never taking too long to get into their concluding throes. It’s almost as if Errors set out to make a Justice album for an older generation, less tuned in to banging beats and toilet seat dirty bass riffs.There are moments where the band strays off the beaten track of catchy hooks into more contemplative noise making such as ‘The Erskine Bridge’ which is nothing more than a lush, wind-chime effect that bubbles away gently, full of interesting little sounds that pique the interest and break up the pattern of the albums remaining tracks. But for the most part, Errors stick with intricate guitar patterns that seem to drift easily over a gloomy background, with ‘The Black Tent’ being a perfect example of this skillful layering of sound.Come Down With Me is surprisingly gentle, and yet never at the risk of being uninteresting. The tracks here are unlikely to get you pulling the robot the next time you go to the local indie club, but they’ll certainly grip you in a totally mesmerising fashion, something that Errors have cribbed from the Mogwai school of songwriting. It’s a mature and assured release from a band that have happily set out their own stall in the busy electronic music market. Whilst they aren’t attention-grabbing enough to pull in the passing trade, those in the know will be rest-assured they will find a good deal to enjoy here.

Buy the album on Amazon | [itunes link="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/errors/id279325033?uo=4" title="Errors" text="iTunes"]