Clock Hands Strangle is a band from Melbourne, Florida. Which technically means that they are based… well, just an hour or two from RetroLowFi HQ. We received a copy of their great new album Redshift/Blueshift in the mail recently, and I have to wonder how such great local music escaped our radars, you know? I didn’t spend too much time fretting over it, though… now we’ve got the record, and all is well.

Redshift/Blueshift is a twinkling, dual-personality record. The first half is mellow, acoustic-based and twinkling, while the second half gets a bit more raucous. There’s not really an apt comparison for these cats, so… let’s just say that everytime you think you’ve got ‘em figured out and pigeonholed, something comes along to smack the silly notion out of your head. Take the opening “Redshift” for example”. At first, it seems like it’s just gonna keep trundling along on it’s mellow indie-folk, and then… wham. The brass kicks in and the track is driven into the metaphorical stratosphere. Same goes for “Elegy For A Star”, which comes midway through the album. Sure, it starts off all sorts of sleepy and mellow… and then a rock-god electric guitar kicks in for the middle section that you couldn’t have predicted with a crystal ball.

It’s probably that type of turn-on-a-dime unpredictability that had them opening up for Do Make Say Think recently, and while I didn’t see the show, I can only imagine that the audience was gobsmacked at the constant moodshifting apparent in the songs on Redshift/Blueshift. Either that, or they simply had no choice but to swoon along to the pop laden time-signature-fest of “Photographer”. I bet these guys win over most audiences effortlessly… if they can follow what’s going on.

Redshift/Blueshift gets a bit more tangible with each listen, but one never gets totally comfortable with what the quintent is dishing out. It’s a hell of a great starting point though, and Redshift/Blueshift proves repeatedly that Clock Hands Strangle is another damn fine reason that America takes Florida’s music scene for granted. We’re not just boy-bands, Matchbox 20 and death meatl anymore! Yay!

Clock Hands Strangle - Perspective.mp3

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