Cuthbert and the Night Walkers - Love Needs Us (Album)
» Walrus - Spectrum, NSW - January 31, 2007
Fans of The Polyphonic Spree and Architecture In Helsinki will find solace, not mere imitation, in Cuthbert and the Night Walkers' debut album, Love Needs Us.
Love Needs Us plays out like the score to a musical. Light and shade, evoking images of conflict and resolution, are key components to the songs. Visions of faraway lands inter-mingle with familiar Sydneyicons, bringing a sense of fantasy-comes-reality for those familiar with the landmarks. Adding to the album’s theatrical nature, every song is infused with narrative lyrics - most of which delve deeper than what would be expected from a band who appear to take nothing, especially themselves, too seriously. It's this "child-like sophistication" that is most endearing about the band, and about the album.
Community Radio listeners will no doubt have heard both “Red Frogs” and “Newtown” drifting across the airwaves over the last six months, however this album is so much more than padding for a couple of radio singles. I’m hesitant to list musical highlights for this reason, but if I had to name other favourite tracks from this album, they would be the sea shanty-esque “Maggies Health” and the piano interlude “Sparky”. Interestingly, lyrics are supplied for this song within the album cover, though none are actually sung on the track!.
The album artwork is painstakingly illustrated, adding even further to the “musical score” theme of the album. Purchasing via digital sources would mean missing out on such a wonderful and vital piece of the framework that holds all the songs together.
Love Needs Us is proof indeed that the novelty of Cuthbert and the Night Walkers will be far from short-lived. Love Needs Us is enthusiastic, emphatic, dreamy and at times melodramatic. But more importantly, it is just the album to place a smile on your face and a catchy chorus in your head.
