Static Charge is the nineteenth album by underground legends The Telescopes who this time around are a four-piece, slow drug rock and noise band, consisting of Stephen Lawrie, Darrell Carter, Robert Prest and John Lynch. The album was self-produced at Butterfly House studios in Shropshire.
The album opens with White Noise that hisses out of the speakers, before the guitars, bass and drums slowly start to infest our brains, while Stephen drawls the vocals to try to get past all the problems you bring them, they are trying to alleviate their boredom, one slow crackling tune at a time, the ennui is smashed by the guitar wailing away.
28 Grams or in old money an Ounce for this slow opiated wail from the darkness weighing on your soul, he claims your soul only weighs 28 Grams, which makes the distress coming through this song all the more menacing and doom laden.
Revolutionary Blues is a slow march towards sparking the kind of revolution that might bring about real change, where bands like The Telescopes will be considered pop bands, while those in power will listen to the voices of the oppressed and make things better, this has an ambient string drone core, slowly whispering The Telescopes own clarion call to rise up.
Come Around keeps its beat with tambourines alongside slow intricate guitar, while they try to persuade you to Come Around to your senses and see things from the right perspective. Still Nothing keeps the slow dirge going, making sure we know Still Nothing positive is happening, despite any attempts to kick some life into the world.
I Dream Of Fever of the sort that Eartha Kitt used to purr about, now Stephen Lawrie sings so slowly about his fever dreams that it is hard to believe he gets excited about anything, while the slow deliberate riff imprints itself in your brain and that velveteen guitar freak out gives you the sweats.
The album closes with the near ten minutes of Desolation Grows from the slow amplifier humming tones, with the odd guitar flourish, while Stephen tells us he is unravelling, while ever so slowly building into a neo-western show down soundtrack, the repeating drum part accompanies the protagonists towards the middle of the main drag ready for one final showdown.
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