Bleep

The incredible debut album from Carla dal Forno, having previously appeared on BEB as a member of F Ingers and Tarcar, You Know What It's Like blends Nico-like melancholy with the homespun psychedelia reminiscent of Finders Keepers acts such as The Fates, Supernatural Lancashire and Paper Dollhouse.

Reference points to the greyscale ghouls of Hide Before Dinner are strongly evident, but the vibe here is much more inward-looking, an album that feels perfectly composed to soundtrack empty apartments on long dull afternoons, the street lights coming on while rain silently falls outside. Starting off with the gurgling swampy murk of Italian Cinema, You Know What It's Like perfectly sets the tone for what is to come. Whimsical drones, hazy acoustics & Sunday morning/afternoon daydream electronics. Showing she can draw out spellbound catchy pop sounds with ease on Fast Moving Cars and What You Gonna Do Now?, the rest of the album drifts more into line with the work of the slowing down suburban bass thud of Modern Lover and Pendle rooted G.H. on DB Rip, while Dry In The rain recalls something of Julian Cope's stone circle mysticism.

Album centrepiece You Know What It's Like could be a top 10 hit (in a festive 50 or another universe where mainstream charts were open to the esoteric echoes of the alt-underground) its delicately woven, yet strikingly confident strides forward move a cinematic sweep of fuzz guitar and woodblock drum roll to create a dazzling piece of outsider-indie. Closing out the album with the zonal sedate of Dragon Breath and the ominous The Same Reply, which carries on the gloom of Joy Division's The Eternal and the beatless elements of Regis / Female's Againstnature, and bringing to a close the LPs strongest track, that sums things up yet leaves us hungry, yearning for more.