Rating: 6.5 / Format: CD / Label: LoAF
Seeland are one of those Birmingham bands, like Pram and Broadcast, who take their lead from Stereolab and have honed a sound inspired by "space age pop", Joe Meek, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and eccentric 60s library music". Comprising ex-Broadcast man Tim Felton and ex-Plone chap Billy Bainbridge, the band has actually been kicking around for half a decade, but this is their first full-length album, out on LoAF with sleeve art tellingly designed by Ghost Box’s Julian House.
The aesthetics Seeland share with Ghost Box – in both their art and their clear love of Radiophonic wibble-wobble and analogue jingles – are pushed right to the forefront of this record, but in the form of pop songs that The Aliens or even Super Furry Animals would have no qualms about calling their own. Tomorrow Today might strum, plonk and harmonise along with less intrigue than say, Bellbury Poly’s From An Ancient Star, but in adapting its aesthetic to more accessible song structures, it will doubtless appeal to a wider audience.
Stacey Morris