Welcome to Quick Takes for November ’26 part 1 – our monthly appraisal of albums that were too good to get away. This month’s first crop includes Sundots, Dikajee and Cats In Space.
SUNDOTS – ON THE QUAY
(BANDCAMP)
The second album, but first full band effort from Connecticut’s Sundots comes on the tail of several solo releases from bandleader Drew Collins under the name. One that needs little more than a few moments to capture the interest with the dreamy acoustic wash of Birthday Song.
Twelve songs flow easily in their trademark Baroque pop/rock style. The clues are in the song title. Grassy Lawn, Distraction, By The Water – all of which invoke the sound of delivered by understated acoustic guitar work – picking and chord strumming – and unhurried tempos.
The occasional dynamic shifts creep up softly and subtly. Getting Away and Idols see their mellow vibe temporarily nudged aside while slightly jazzier overtones drift into Distraction and Hazard, the latter a six minute exploration and example of Sundots getting into a groove and just rolling with the vibe. Fave tracks? Probably , closely followed by the broody slow build in By The Water. A pair in total contrast to the almost throwaway two minute jingle through Someone Else’s Song and rare busy-ness the develops in Unfolded.
With snippets of intermittent but controlled turbulence, On The Quay proves a calm and sedate set
CATS IN SPACE – SUIT OF ARMOUR
(ESOTERIC ANTENNA / CHERRY RED RECORDS)
“Time Machine was merely the starter. Suit of Armour is the full banquet… a medieval banquet of epic rock, if you will,” says Cats In Space guitarist Greg Hart as he revs up the fanbase in anticipation of another Cats In Space epic. And with the warning of “Hold on to your hats,” ringing in our ears and with new recruits Chris Childs on bass and Sam Wood on lead guitar, the band sounds inspired across twelve tracks that barely let up.
The Armory theme extends from the evocative artwork to the likes of the medieval tale that plays out in the title track, White Knight and Don’t Spare The Horses. Mister Showbiz briefly parks the classic twin guitar harmonies for a piano led drama (Twenty-Seven possibly moreso) and that wouldn’t be out of place with Freddie and Brian at the helm.
Never Big In Japan and the boogie (and voice box) of The Bloodsucker’s Waltz sees the fun dial swinging into the red once the well sequenced opening bouts of riffing has done the job of baiting the hook. We Breathe In Stereo might be a great place to play the pub game of spot the influences (what do you reckon to the vocoder?).
An album that sees CIS fully deserving of a place with the Tykettos, the Dares, the FMs at the top table of hard to fault Melodic Rock where a grand chorus hook is never far off, more often than not accompanied by a towering guitar break. Essential fare for the hard and melodic A/MOR hordes.
DIKAJEE – THE FRAME
(BANDCAMP)
An artist (artiste even?) who’s been on the radar alongside The Blackheart Orchestra, the hauntingly brilliant multi-instrumentalist Dikajee exists in a rareified space. One where progressive rock, folk, classical music and metal collide.
The Frame gathers nine songs driven by bold and daring songwriting and a rare vocal range that moves from soaring classical/operatic to extreme styles. Patches of ethereality cross swords with evocative atmospheres as arrangements shift gears in tempos and dynamics, never inhibiting a space long enough to get comfortable. Across seven minutes of the title track, moods pass relentlessly in the most progressive of arrangements and musical ambition.
No stranger to composing without boundaries, the avant garde and experimental kicks in mid Gunpowder. Vocals that flow from eerily fragile to assertive and and instrumentation veer off at crazy tangents and stretch the limits of expectancy of the treasures to come.
More than just a pinch of intensity seeps into the flowing arrangements that rise and fall in crest and crescendos that make up for the loss of musical contemporaries Anathema with a satisfying decadence. The delicate and sensual piano passages in the likes of Lantern and Thrown Ashore almost inevitably conjure up thoughts of quoting a Bush-ism or two; say floating on a ninth wave.
However, The Frame in not a gentle ride. Around every corner lurks some skittering electronics, tumbling nylon guitar or severe twists and turns or vice versa. Iron fists, velvet gloves, The Frames is an uncompromising yet fulfilling meisterwerk.