The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
[4/5]
The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir’s debut album begins with the band bashing away at the infectious charms of “Aspidistra” like the early Jam on holiday, as singer Elia Einhorn regales you with tales of his drug-addled youth after setting the stage with the scrappiest little guitar break this side of the Buzzcocks. That’s about it for the rocking, though. Most tracks are wistful chamber pop-some cello here, a trumpet there, even what sounds like a xylophone rocking the Beatlesque end of “Obsessions” (a cut that also boasts a Yankee Hotel Foxtrot-worthy freakout). Other highlights range from the majestic waltz-time folk-pop of “This World Has No Place For Me” to this year’s contender for saddest song ever, “In Hospital,” a stark, piano-driven eulogy sung with devastating heartache by Ellen O’Hayer. (BLOODSHOT) Ed Masley
