A Hi-Fi Mixtape album review
British dreampop legends RIDE are back with the follow-up from their 2014 reunion album. And as the title suggests, this is yet another Gen-X band going to their creative edges.
Purchase the new RIDE album via their Bandcamp website
I first heard RIDE while I was at high school. It was their mini-LP Smile, which was a re-release of their earlier two EP's. The sound was dreamy, and yet the highly distorted fuzz guitars and frantic drums was like nothing else I was listening to at the time. There was something particularly awesome about it. This was before the Seattle sound became huge, and the indie music I was exposed to was still predominantly British.
While the first proper album Nowhere and its follow-up Going Blank Again were instant alternative rock/pop classics, their psychedelic-spangly 3rd album Carnival Of Light was my personal favourite, and still easily in my Top 10 of great albums of all time.
I Gotta admit, seeing a photo like that reminds me that it's close to 30 years has passed since those days. And yet, listening to This Is Not A Safe Place brings me back to the era and the age-group, but not in a nostalgic way... more like remembering a way of being, but with the wisdom and experience of the intervening years.
Make no mistake: this is not a dinosaur band trying to regain past glories. This is RIDE picking up where they left off. There is familiarity, yes. But there is also something new, something bold, and something brave.
It starts with the opening track R.I.D.E. — I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. This is not the band I knew and loved, with it's dance vibe. And then about one minute in, those familiar vocals kick in.... and I know I'm in for a ride (no pun intended).
The next couple of tracks are killers!! Future Love is definitely old-school, with Gardener's vocals lifting me into that dreampop fog. Repetition is a completely different vibe and sound, although reminds me of some of the work on their Tarantula album. This track kind of has that new-wave/punk vibe of The Cars.
The next track comes on seamlessly. Kill Switch is heavy and very different. It reminds me of some of the harder Primal Scream did on XTMNTR.
Clouds Of St Marie is another shoegaze classic, reminiscent of Carnival of Light, but without the 60's vibe, and maybe closer to their original sound.
The next couple fo tracks are nothing special, to be honest. But they're not crap, they're just different, and clearly this is Andy Bell being as creative as he wants to be. And why not!?!
Jump Jet is possibly my favourite track. It grooves, it rolls, and it's a track I want to listen to very, very loud and dance to. There is one thing that RIDE do well, and that is danceable music. If you're familiar with the groove of Going Blank Again, you'll definitely love this track.
Dial Up is an acoustic number and is a pleasant come-down after the previous track. This is followed by End Game which sounds like the bastard child of Andy Bell and the Pet Shop Boys; but don't let that put you off, as it is one of the better tracks on the album.
The guitars have a really interesting sound on this album throughout. The only way I can describe it is like the atmospheric guitars you hear on 'chill' music. This is exemplified in the final track In This Room, a classic RIDE epic. Dreamy and melodic in the verse, it builds to a grand, uplifting chorus that had me wanting to crank the volume. Like all what this band create, it's what I would call "heavy chill music". At 8:40, I reckon this is a track that will make it onto a Late Night Tales compilation some time soon.
Overall, this album is awesome. Sure, we could compare it to their old stuff, but then we would be missing the brilliance of a new creation. In their own words, This Is Not A Safe Place challenges any of their old fans (and maybe critics) to hate on them for progressing with their creativity on a different sound:
It's funny, people hate you to change They want you just to repeat and stay the same Even though repetition is a form of change — RIDE, 'Repetition'
Please support this band and buy their album, or pay to stream it
RIDE - This Is Not A Safe Place - 2019 Witchita Recordings
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