Boats - Tomorrow Time (CD)

On their third album, the slightly cryptic but not otherwise forbidding Boats -- at base Craig Tattersall and Andrew Hargreaves, plus friends -- create another restrained delight. Calling the combination of crisp glitch pulse and calm tones that open the album "A Sincere Fuck You" might seem off-putting to some but to be honest, nobody would have blinked an eye if Mogwai had called a song that. The duo's style at this point is an extremely spare-sounding (but still heavily detailed in its own subtle way) mix of impulses familiar to anyone who loves ambient Eno, early Warp releases, acts like Hood and Piano Magic and the now monumental impact of Radiohead's Kid A in particular, though almost without a hint of rock & roll in the Boats' case. Songs skitter through the album like nervous mice thanks to the percussion which, some tunes aside, is barely there; while glitch is no new move in general, though, it's still used deftly on many songs such as "The List of Our Mistakes," where the shimmer of electronic textures provide even more overt rhythms. When the beats turn fuller, as on "I Never Had You Down as a Liar" and on the steadier clip of "I'm Talking Facts, Not Shit," the effect is to anchor the songs more fully but without losing the graceful blend of simple but captivating melodies throughout. Throughout the album vocals are provided by two singers, Chris Stewart and Elaine Reynolds, both of whom use calm, almost diffident styles that match well with the performances in a way that Vini Reilly's did for early Durutti Column efforts -- a quiet shading rather than a commanding override. ~ Ned Raggett