Quantum Pig describe themselves as being simultaneously a “prog band but not a prog band”. It means, whilst their music is rooted in prog, they don’t allow themselves to be hemmed in by boundaries or genres. They happily draw their influences from right across the music spectrum, and this is clearly evident in their sparkling debut album Songs of Industry and Sunshine.
The band, Ian Faragher and Mark Stevenson, have signed to White Star Records, run by Chris Hillman (no, not that one) and John Mitchell (Frost*, Lonely Robot, Kino, etc), a man who knows more than a little about prog, and they’ve been given their head and allowed free rein to develop their ideas. The outcome of this is a very impressive and dynamic debut album, covering themes of exploration, marginalisation and a search for meaning in times of uncertainty, riven through with good playing, thought provoking lyrics and some accessibly complex instrumental runs.
Quantum Pig are thinking big with this album. Says Mark Stevenson, “Songs of Industry and Sunshine is about the transition from the old world dying to the new one which must emerge”. Opening track ‘Citizen and State’ has already been released as a single, and has been described as a meeting of the punk attitude of The Stranglers and the sonic landscape of Kraftwerk though, let’s be clear… Kraftwerk have never ever sounded as good as this. This is an ambitious opening track with a catchy melody and a hook which pulls you in, plus an opening line stating “Now you’re not stupid enough to get bogged down in questions of right or wrong”. Kraftwerk never rocked like this.
They show their heavier side on tracks like ‘Statement of Intent’, a song about mankind destroying the planet for various specious reasons, where they lament “Is this the sum total of what we dreamt, come ring the changes, let’s have a statement of Intent”. Similarly on ‘Keep The Nation Warm’, where they find themselves “Trapped between the old world and the new, between facts and the truth”.
But, despite the downhearted message being postulated, the band are not wholly pessimistic in outlook. On ‘The Shadows We Miss’ they talk about finding “Light in the Heart of Darkness” and it’s this spirit which runs through the album. White Star have released some exceptionally good debut albums in recent times, (Parallax Twin, Kim Seviour ) and this album is right up there alongside the best of them.
