REVERBERATION Blue Stereo Music (3rd Stone)

Like the other 3rd Stone signings reviewed this issue, Parisian band Reverberation tend to lean somewhat heavily on their influences. However, the press release is one step ahead of any wearied muso-hack cynicism: "Although sometimes a little too eager to liken one band to another, certain people have mentioned Reverberation in the same breath as Spiritualized, Phil Spector, Brian Eno and The Faces. You can take that with a pinch of salt if you like, but it at least gives you a starting point." In fact, if you ignore the references to Phil Spector, Brian Eno and The Faces then you’ve pretty much cracked it. However, Reverberation cunningly manage to sidestep the second rate copyist accusations by having within their ranks one Laurent, who allegedly did time with Spiritualized precursors, and godfathers of everything woozy and psychedelic recorded in the last decade or so, Spacemen 3. This might explain their fascination with elderly keyboards and exotic-sounding instruments such as Hawaiian sound, sub bass, space vibes and devil’s harmonica, but does little to shed light on