Ulrika Spacek – Modern English Decoration

Ulrika Spacek’s second album very much builds on the premise of their debut. What we have here is an art-rock band who wear the influence of Television on their sleeves but who are unafraid to range from Slowdive-y ethereality across Black Angels-style rock to a light psychedelia that at times reminds of both Syd Barrett and The Shins (although we suspect they wouldn’t like that last comparison).

Kicking off with single Mimi Pretend – a good interplay of synth and drums builds to a meaty bit of riffage and nice hazy vocals that pitch their tent within shouting distance of shoegaze – this is an album you sense is meant to be viewed as a cohesive whole. You can tell thought has been employed in the ordering. Ulrika Spacek are nothing if not precise.

Which isn’t to to say that everything in the Ulrika Spacek world is perfect (sometimes the lazy vocals feel phoned in, even if that’s the kind of cool we’re looking to achieve – see Dead Museum and to an extent Ziggy), but whatever hairs you want to split are more than offset by what are in essence just great tunes – Silvertonic, Everything: All the Time and Victorian Acid, we’re looking at you.

This is a band on a journey. Modern English Decoration nods to its predecessor, certainly, but you can hear the way in which the original duo (Ulrika Spacek kicked off as a duo in Berlin – you hear their debut The Album Paranoia and you say, of course they did) has consolidated their appeal as a five-piece. These guys have got promise written all over them.

Listen to: Silvertonic, Everything: All The Time, Victorian Acid