Ah the bourgeois excess of Post Rock. Not only is the genre literally bursting at the seams under the heavy burden of an ever increasing number of sub-standard copyists, now we have Saturation Point who ambitiously set their stall out to produce four albums in twelve months. Cunningly these are entitled One, Two, Three and Four and track names are denounced preferring 3.1, 3.2 etc….concept indeed!

Aside from their impressive agenda, what else do we know of Saturation Point?

They are three blokes who look every bit the anti-pop star. In their past life they were part of Suede’s mates, Strangelove. For all you youngsters, Strangelove were shoe gazers from the mid nineties who specialised in miserablist anthems and occasionally went a bit prog (check out the ten minute, spoken word epic, Ghost Haddock). If you ever listened to Strangelove’s debut, it’s no surprise that Saturation Point have found a home in the Post Rock niche.

Three is an excellent example of how to take an idea and make it your own. It is a widely established notion that Post Rock is founded on the delicate, and at times almost silent quiet bits, that either suddenly burst into a riot of white noise or mutate slowly into a slavering beast.

More often than not, Three deviates from the Post Rock blueprint by building layer upon layer of detail to reach the commonly admired crescendos. Opener 3.1 is serene in its effervescent opulence, gently massaging layers of controlled feedback and effects to ease the listener into a sense of false security. The mood is immediately darkened when 3.2 rampages through the speakers, a dark brooding storm is evoked that ends as abruptly as it begins. An eye to the storm is found in 3.3 providing a graceful distraction from the preceding gloom. It is a brief respite, the clouds gather from the first chord of 3.4 and the nightmare returns. Bass drums and feedback collide around a menacingly repetitive riff that slowly draws you to the gates of hell, before 3.5 saves you with its brief angelic beauty that even spills into 3.6. The shadows lengthen as 3.7 brings closure on this instalment of Saturation points quadruplicate quest.

By emphasising the splendour and savagery that drums, bass and guitar can produce, Saturation Point have made a record that stands tall amongst its many peers. It will be interesting to see if the consistency is maintained over four albums, but is worth finding out.
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Links
Saturation Point [official site] [myspace]