The Frank Flight Band Outrunning The Sun

In and amongst all the big boys, now and again a little diamond shines through the coal. That is the beauty of music. As in this case, it can be something so good that you feel for its underachievement, but take heart that you're in on the secret. Back somewhere in the mid/late 90's I worked a Saturday job at Partners The Stationers; I was fifteen years old and worked all day for what turned out to be about £20 - money I could use to buy my records. My boss at the time had a boyfriend who was in a band, and, since all I did was talk about music, she told me all about them and invited me to come along to one of their gigs in Republic Bar, Southport. At fifteen I could pass for eighteen, so I gathered a couple of mates and off we went. My memories of the specific details, after all these years, are pretty much shot. However, I do remember this: I fucking loved it.

I left that job soon after and heard nothing more of The Frank Flight Band. Imagine my surprise then when, over a dozen years later in 2009, I saw a poster on the wall of a pub that I was playing in advertising their name for an upcoming gig. I checked the diary there and then, and actually felt a wave of excitement to discover that I had the night free. Something about that night in The Republic Bar had stayed with me all this time; I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew I had to see it all again. I made some phone calls, got down to the venue, and, beer in hand, waited for a dose of deja vu. I certainly wasn't disappointed, and left with the memento that I'd wished I'd had all those years before - their album Outrunning The Sun.

Now this is a difficult one to know where to start. It really is. There is well over an hour of music on this album - an album subversive and somewhat extra-dimensional in parts, but never short of formidable. It is the fruit of a ten year journey; in itself a contributory factor to this majestic disillusion. If ten years of taming the beast isn't enough to send a man stir crazy then I've no idea what is, and you know what they say: there is a fine line between madness and genius. For me, Outrunning The Sun has one foot either side.

The opening title track is a swirling, psychedelic, sub-underground freak-out lasting 16:18 minutes. It is as mesmerising and affective as anything on Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, cruising smoothly through tempo change and progressive jamming with consummate ease. The production is superb, and only adds to the hypnotic effect upon the listener. By the time Andy Wrigley appears with his Jim Morrison-esque vocal somewhere halfway to Mars, your sights are already set on a rather mercurial journey to the sun. Tourniquet is a dreamy lament in which Wrigley declares the one statement in which we can all relate: "I'm foolish for loving you." Danny Taylor's bass drives the song alongside the inventive drumming of Dave Veres, whilst Frank Flight's entrancing rhythm (as in Beach House) guides the song home. Spag Bol (part 1) and (part 2) are boundless snippets of an enterprising jam, and Bad Time For The Future a thudding statement about the hopelessness of lost love. Crumbling At My Feet is funky and somewhat more mainstream than the rest of the record, whereas Gravitas is a spacious instrumental; anxious, uncertain and mysterious.

Preparations For The Mayday Ball is an interesting, medieval style acoustic jaunt, Better Not Shout a riveting self-penned rocker by Frank Flight, the band's instrumental driving force, and Evening Star another space-age epic with extra-terrestrial effects and atmospheric soundscapes. However, the outstanding track for me is the introspective Season Of Promise, another Flight number built on a wonderfully melancholy melody, reminiscent of Echo and the Bunneymen, or Joy Division. Wrigley's vocal is sullen and esoteric, his harmonies vibrant, Colin Rens' guitar work divine, and the all round sound somewhat aeronautical. A brilliant song embedded in an accomplished album.

In a similar vein to Paul Kappa, this is a band that should be heard, but probably wont. Another tragedy in the world of music in my eyes, but at least what is done is done. If art moves just one person then it is worth creating. I cannot recommend Outrunning The Sun any higher; if you like Pink Floyd, The Doors, or any of the progressive/psychedelic bands for that matter then this is a record you need to check out. The sleeve notes ask a series of rhetorical questions: "did they find what they were looking for in their quest? why did it take five years to complete? and which one is Frank anyway? let others put answers to these questions and in the meantime: sit back, strap yourself in and let the sun be your guide. . . . . . . . . . . . " Well, I hope more than just I become intrigued enough to care and venture deep into this weird and wonderful record.

Outrunning The Sun is available on CD from www.cdbaby.com/Artist/TheFrankFlightBand, and their myspace address is www.myspace.com/frankflightband