Review: Tall Ships - There Is Nothing But Chemistry Here

Tall Ships has so far been the eternal tour support band, playing before the likes of Tubelord, Minus The Bear, Maps & Atlases, and soon 65daysofstatic, while repeatedly selling out their self-titled debut EP (now in its third pressing, and available on sale at Big Scary Monsters). But I say unto you, this new release will make them into worthy headliners fit to conquer worlds.

This second EP has been widely-anticipated by many, and rightly so. Every song here is absolutely breath-taking.

Opener Plate Tectonics uses geological analogies to express itself, which is a repeating theme in the whole EP, in that Science or scientific terms are used as analogical tools for emotions. This song talks of treacherous terrains and lonely landscapes, and is where Tall Ships definitely can apply the label 'math pop' most appropriately.

Chemistry (available for download/streaming HERE) starts off with a slightly slowed-down maths-y guitar fare, and morphs into a debut-EP-era Tall Ships beauty of a song.

The third track is definitely my personal favourite. Ode (or Ode To Ancestors) is a love song for biologists (not that I'm one). Hey, someone's got to fill that niche. With its lyrics about natural selection and ancestral traits to explain someone's perfection, it's no typical romantic fare.

The penultimate track, Snow, is a heart-wrenching eulogy accompanied by beautiful melodies and mournful vocals that builds up to a truly satisfying climax. Then the whole experience suddenly slows down as we come into Bearandblitz, an under-2-minutes outro that sounds like your heart regretting this record coming to its end.

But don't worry, you can always press play again from the start.

The EP will be out on 25th October 2010 and is available for pre-order at Big Scary Monsters and Blood And Biscuits.

If I had to give this EP a rating, I would give it 9 Jack Sparrows out of 10.