THAT F*CKING TANK - The Awesome Magnet (On The Bone) - This Leeds-based two piece sound like a full band on this single, particularly when guest vocalist Giles Bailey joins them on track one. TFT (I like to save up my f words for when I'm really cross) have the popular incarnation of drummer and guitarist; drummer James Islip plays a pared-down kit, whilst guitarist Andy Abbott apparently sends his guitar through bass and guitar amps simultaneously, an idea smart enough for Dragon's Den. It helps that it's a baritone guitar, strung extra thick. The result is a muscular, stripped-down but substantial sound. The two tracks on this single were recorded 'in a couple of hours' upstairs at redoubtable Leeds venue The Packhorse Inn: the production a nice balance of in-the-room raw immediacy and well-recorded clarity. The Awesome Magnet is an angular rollercoaster overlaid by Giles Bailey's strident vocals - anthemic, driving, episodic and a unique kind of progressive, it drives along via a collection of riffs and motifs, ringing the changes with texture rather than excessive complexity. The lyrics are great - the ear catches on abstract slogans suggesting a mad William Gibson/Jon Anderson hybrid - 'LEDs flicker like a membrane was torn... YEAAAAH there was something resonatin'...' making perfect sense when shouted ecstatically, Les Savy Fav style intense avant-rock with a hint of wah-fed progressiveness sneaking in - the Tank moving right up there

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