Bark Psychosis 'A Street Scene' (Circa, 1994)

Crikey, this is a beautiful, moody, atmospheric track from an almost supernaturally good band. Bark Psychosis were a ridiculously youthful bunch when they emerged with a clutch of EPs in the early 90s. Their 21-minute epic, 'Scum' (1992), recorded at their base of St John's church, had a majestic sweep of mood and ambience.

Newly signed to a major, they re-emerged with a single. 'A Street Scene' opens with a gentle cat's cradle of bass - rubbery, melodic, resonant - drawing you in with a simple drum skip. A warm, slightly melancholy trumpet joins in before the half-spoken verse burrows its way into your consciousness.

The chorus EXPLODES in a reveille of guitar and brass, the vocal remaining muttered but hopeful, before subsiding into the bass-led verse. As the track progresses through the quiet-loud pattern, it builds a head of steam before subsiding into a gorgeously laid back guitar figure, resolving the tension and bringing the song to a fade.

'Hex' - the album that came next - is a real gem, currently deleted but worth tracking down. As on 'A Street Scene' there is post-rock aplenty (indeed, Bark Psychosis is the band that caused Simon Reynolds to coin the term post-rock) along with echoes of Talk Talk's career summit 'Spirit Of Eden'. Magical stuff.

Bark Psychosis main man Graham Sutton (a noted producer of British Sea Power amongst other bands) revived the Bark Psychosis name for the 'Codename:Dustsucker' album in 2004 after releasing a sequence of drum'n'bass outings through the back half of the 90s. Well worth investigating.

Download Bark Psychosis 'A Street Scene' (alternative, post rock, mp3)

Bark Psychosis on Wikipedia