LATE OF THE PIER
Fantasy Black Channel
(Astralwerks)
By Todd Lavoie
Given the manic pulsations emanating from this English indie-electro quartet, I suppose it’s only appropriate that Late of the Pier‘s ascent from teenage obscurity to darlings of the British music press would be swift and twitching with drama. Formed in 2004, when all four members were only 16 or 17 years of age, the group released its first single on an independent label in March 2007 – the hype machine began tossing superlatives almost immediately thereafter. From there, a couple of additional singles followed – and the accompanying hyperbole from the press seemed to compound exponentially.
By the autumn of last year, their debut, Fantasy Black Channel – which includes some of their previously issued singles – found a major-label release in Britain (on Parlophone/EMI), preceded of course by a level of advance buzz that almost always dooms the poor coveted object to eventual disappointment. Now, several months later, the disc has finally seen a domestic release; only time will tell whether the famously excitable Brit press will stick with these guys long enough to respond to their next move, but in the meantime, a valid question persists – was the hype merited?