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B-Movie Climate of Fear Review by Gary Hill If you like the music of bands like Bauhaus and the Cure you are very likely to enjoy this. This album is set in that same style of music. It’s a particularly effective set, really. There are four alternate versions of a different song at the end as bonus tracks. That part loses me a bit. If you stay with the main album part, though, this doesn’t have any weak points, really. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2016 Volume 3 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review

Another False Dawn The bass starts this and holds it for a while. Drums join around the 15 second mark. A bit later the keys come in to add more sound to the piece. As the vocals join this has a real 80s sound to it. The guitar brings some cool harder rock edges to the song.

Come Closer This rocker is in a similar vein as the opener. In a lot of ways, it makes me think of a merging The Cure with Bauhaus. It is an energetic rocker with some great character and style. I like this one better than that first song, and I liked that one a lot. This is worth the price of admission all by itself.

San Francisco There are some nods to the old hippie classic, but this is a dark song about the reality of modern world. Yet, it’s rather bouncy. I suppose the same reference points as earlier apply, but with a bit of The Talking Heads thrown in for good measure.

Corridors Here is an energized rocker. This has a great electronic vibe to it. It has something in common with modern acts like RPWL, but merged with more of that 80s vibe at the same time. This makes me think of that old band Icehouse quite a bit.

Forgotten Souls Piano starts this and holds it for the first 30 seconds or so. Then the rest of the group enter and we’re off into a rather proggy jam from there. When it works out to more rocking territory, it’s more line with the rest of the set. I like the guitar solo quite a bit on this.

Ghost Land Another 80s styled rocker, I like this one, too. It’s not a real standout, though. It’s just quite solid.

Climate of Fear The title track has some great vocal hooks and cool keyboard parts. It’s a great tune. At some points the vocals make me think of Fred Schneider in the B-52s. There are definitely some weird bits on this cut.

A Girl & a Gun I really like this one a lot, too. It’s one of the best tracks here. The vocal hooks are quite strong. The organ soloing later almost calls to mind the Doors. The whole thing just rocks and is very effective.

The Remnants This is screaming hot in the jam at the end. The vocal hooks are catchy, too. This thing really gets proggy at times, but is overall another 80s styled rocker.

Feeling Gothic This has a tasty bit of weirdness to it. It’s a fun number that works pretty well. I like the keyboard heavy arrangement, but the bass line really stands out to me at times, too.

Bonus Tracks

Nowhere Girl (Radio Edit) This cut rocks out pretty well. It’s definitely harder edged than some of the other pieces.

Nowhere Girl (Die Krupps vs. Leæther Strip Remix) Now, this high energy techno remix is something very special. I like this much more than the previous version.

Nowhere Girl (Extended) This one is a bit of a let-down from the previous version. It’s more of a dance club mix. Beyond that it’s essentially the same as the “Radio Edit” cut.

Nowhere Girl (Deathday Remix) Echoey and very electronic, this one doesn’t work for me as well as any of the others. I do like the percussion work out. The closing section of this is definitely overlong and gets a bit annoying.

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