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Standard Fare - The Noyelle Beat (LP)

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Album Review

King Bathmat Fantastic Freak Show Carnival
StereoHead Records

Article written by Hattie N
Jun 12, 2005.

Roll up, roll up, and welcome to the “Fantastic Freak Show Carnival”. It’s a carnival, it features freak shows who are pretty damn fantastic, and it’s all brought to you courtesy of the finest Bathmat in rock. And what do you get for your very reasonable £9.99(ish) ticket price? Come on in and find out…

For the King of the Bathmats has conjured up a real treat for all those who dare to enter into his weirdo world. The title track for example, is a glorious rip-roaring beast of a song and very “Sgt Pepper’s…”. Opener “Ghost In The Fire” is as disconcerting and spooky as any ghost train, whilst the soaring chorus of “Rejected” should by rights soundtrack the bit when you go over the top on the Big Wheel. King Bathmat’s obviously a bit of an old romantic too, as the gentle blissful lament of “Sweet Iris”, or the beautiful insecurities of “Simpleton Know It All” (“I’m just another simpleton know it all…who loves you”) show.

It’s not all candy-floss flavoured excitement though; “Illuminous Pups” is an unnecessary instrumental, the eleven-minute jam of “Soul Searching Song” shows slight over-indulgence, and through “Kings Ransom” and “Hornets Nest”, the King displays a propensity to miss out apostrophes. However, all these faults are forgivable (apart from the last one perhaps) due to the greatness of the album as a whole.

In “Fantastic Freak Show Carnival”, King Bathmat has created an (almost) perfect form of escapism. It’s a chance to journey into another universe, on that has a distinctly more psychedelic-tinge, and most importantly is brilliant fun. In fact, it’s all the fun of the fair.

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