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The Plague Monkeys - Surface Tension (crosstown music)

Surface Tension is the debut offering from Irish band The Plague Monkeys.

The cd cover sums the music up perfectly, minimalist. It is beautifully pieced together but it doesn't say very much. The lyrics for only one song are printed, probably because it looked better. Design over content I think they call it.

Every note, every chord on this album seems to have been placed where it is for a specific reason. But, ultimately, the album fails to grab the attention of the listener, opting instead to fade into the background, only to be noticed again two hours later (if you have your player set to repeat) when it starts to become annoying.

This is a shame, as the band do have a lot of potential, glimpses of which can be seen on songs like 'Breaking the Ice' and 'Surfacing'. These are the only songs on the entire album which made me actually sit up and listen.

Even lead singer Carol Keogh's ethereal voice can't save this album from it's position of mediocrity.

by Paul Kelly