I have Darrin from JanglePopHub to thank for being turned on to The High Water Marks, but please don't tell him that I've been praising him. I feel really guilty because I loved Hilaire Sydney in Apples In Stereo, but lost touch of her career.
Now based in Norway with husband, Per Ole Bratset, the pair are joined by Logan Miller and Øystein Megård to form the quartet. Indie Guitar Pop is at the heart of what they do, but that isn't the half of it. Sydney is such a talented songwriter and that shines through and the album progresses through a number of genres across these 13 songs.
She also has the voice of an angel, a vocal that reminds me a lot of Lindsay Murray of Gretschen's Wheel. Female led Guitar Pop can occasionally be either too twee or too shouty. There's not a bit of that here and the vocals of Bratset add even more to the variety.
When you listen to the opener, The Best Day, you think this is going to be a Power Pop album, well only Someone's Song falls into the same category. We Are Going To Kentucky has a real Brit Pop Jangle and Twang whilst Jenny is Glasgow Indie Jangle of the highest order.
The whole album sounds so perky and upbeat, big riffs and some fine Guitar solos whilst always remaining Chorus hooked. Bratset's vocal on Fantastic Machine is wonderfully Pastoral Pop with an added killer Bassline. The title track is Fuzz of the highest order.
But what stands out most are the ventures into Psych Pop. Dust And Guitars has a Psych riff to die for, it knocks the spots off many in the genre. Then there's The Origin Of Names, a mesmerising 5 minutes that rocks your socks off. Proclaimer Of Things will be up there at the end of year awards. It is astonishingly great.
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I agree with you on this one! This album was a joy to discover after the Apples were over and High Water Marks went silent. I wish Hilaire sang lead on all the songs, but I'll take what I can get.
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