We at Recess love Wales. That little non-country next to England has brought us Catherine Zeta-Jones, rock band Super Furry Animals and the best sheep in the world. And you know how we love sheep.
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci also hail from Wales, and they share much in common with the Super Furries. Defiantly singing in Welch and wrapping their message in a syrupy psychadelica, these two bands convinced many a Recess staffer that the clubs in Cardiff have as much to offer as the hills of the surrounding countryside. Since the Super Furries issued their brilliant Mwng-a folky, Welsh-only masterpiece-last summer, it comes as no surprise that Gorky's would follow with the all-acoustic The Blue Trees.
But where Mwng dripped with zaniness and irony, The Blue Trees inspires with its sheer innocence and lack of self-consciousness. "This Summer's Been Good From the Start" ranks as one of the most straightforwardly beautiful songs recorded in the past year. And the choice of going acoustic was a wise one, balancing Gorky's usual rocked-out quirkiness with a quieter, lighter feel.
Leave it to Gorky's Zygotic Mynci to remind us that the humans in Wales are also capable of sublime love.
-By Robert Kelley
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