Idlewild - 100 Broken Windows (2000)

Taking their name from the hiding place in the 'Anne Of Green Gables' book this is a foursome that have the wherewithal to flabbergast. 100 Broken Windows was their third album and comes complete with at least a dozen compilation tape favourites. 'Little Discourage' opens the noise fest with a crafty confidence. While it had minimal impact sales wise its classy internal streamlined guitar displays highlight a maturity that was often lacking in their gorgeously ebullient debut 'Hope Is Important'. Singer Roddy Woomble comes off sounding like a youthful Michael Stipe with lyrics that drip with irony.

Idlewild's genius is their knack of conjuring tunes that aren't all that obvious. While immediacy certainly has its place there is something more soulful in the adventure of uncovering a hook you didn't think existed. That's why so many of Idlewild's tunes stand up perfectly to multiple listens. 'These Wooden Ideas' trips up its own title because it is positively full of intricate loveliness. The pacing is fluid with little nooks and crannies exposing giant realms of sketchbook genius. Find some surround sound home cinema speakers and float Dead Sea like on a massive jamboree of cartoon notes. 'Roseability' seemed like an odd choice to promote the album but it is entirely probable that you'll be humming it 2 days later while you struggle to work out where such a nice tune came from. What 'Roseability' lacks in hidden grooves it more than makes up with adrenaline fuelled aggression and stable percussion.

A well-known trick with clued in guitar blended bands is to pitch effortless harmony after a elated period of meaningless crashing guitars noise. So we have 'Idea Track', where Roddy Woomble tears his vocal chords over a horrendous montage of misleading chords until out of the blue a chorus that would clean dirt from under your fingernails swoops in with all the grace of swan. As Woomble forages onwards and upwards for more meaning the effect is thrilling, a piece that could have been tacked onto 'Nevermind' with minimal fuss and maximum effect. At the end the storm subsides and the viola recreates the foggy scene over those hushed and humbled words. When it seems that your emotions could hardly be aroused to any greater effect 'Let Me Sleep (next to the mirror)' ambles in to rock your world once more. Here the playing is a little more controlled; for once Rod Jones on guitar lets the singing do the talking. The heartbreaking image whisks you away on the white horse displacing that knight in shining army who had played that tired old trick dozens of times. As the sunset beckons the sound of freedom comes from four Northern British blokes.

'100 Broken Windows' spreads the full spectrum of alternative attractiveness. At times it swaggers under a torrent of inebriated noise, elsewhere it is as delicate as a embalmed butterfly. 'Quiet Crown' successfully marries both persuasions. The jangling guitars suggest a solemn ditty but as soon as you settle down for another cup of cocoa a tidal wave of electrifying notes bleat beneath the surface as the frontman twists and turns under the weight of his own talent. With all the artificial ingenious of a wind tunnel 'Actually It's Darkness' has the credentials to quite literally blow the cobwebs from your ears. 'Why Can't Your Be More Cynical' he screams while all the time perfectly retaining the sense that he is creating something beautiful that people might like to listen to in their living rooms. Hurtling down the same tunnel at the speed of light 'Listen To What You've Got' is for all intensive purposes the aerobic teachers worst nightmare. At best liable to incur refunds and at worst heart attacks it is a wonderful expression of youth let loose on unsuspecting instruments.

While Idlewild have several reference points that become obvious as the album progresses they retain their own ID throughout. 'The Bronze Medal' could be Mogwai if they lent full throttle to their wayward vocal tendencies. Perhaps the result does come across a little lame, which is a pity because the swansong should have sealed this classic. 'Rusty' is as dark as moody as any Joy Division piece. On occasions it contorts to uncover a fine chorus that fits in perfectly with its own idiosyncrasy. Idlewild certainly have the product and imagination to make something of themselves. There predisposition to touring in the outer reaches of the earth (the Orkney Islands for instance) means that the ambition and will is there in abundance. It seems that unlike its binary equivalent '100 Broken Windows' is refreshingly bug free.

Rating: 8/10

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