"Afraid I've heard it all before" sighs the grandly bereft and shockingly haired Paul Carter. Tonight, he - and the other sonic adventurers that make-up Flotation Toy Warning - are alone on that score.
Few gathered at the Union Chapel Studio can have tasted such visionary musical fruits as those unveiled here by this precious five-piece from East London, who've been flapping their wings for a bold take-off for some two years now. And, though rock'n'roll is currently on a seemingly infinite kamikaze ride to oblivion, FTW can be expected to find many allies on their mission to a more rarefied galaxy, where a small clutch of American alt.rock heroes have already set-up base camp.
Essentially, FTW are a profoundly ambitious collective, that mould epic and hypnotic technicolour soundscapes to fractured samples and desolately illuminating lyrics, following a rich lineage of vaulting expression best mined by Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips.
Indeed, those familiar with Wayne Coyne's fabulous Lips will recognise the psyche-twisted juxtaposition in titles such as 'Fire Engine On Fire' and 'Pop Star Researching Oblivion', alongside the multi-media sensory experience presented. However, FTW have a unique appeal, certainly in the UK, that is seen on the magnificent likes of openor 'Even Fantastica', midpoint brain-scrambler 'Losing Carolina; For Drusky' and the closing killer blow 'Pop Star'.
'Fantastica' weaves stunned and sawed guitars with stirring keyboard pyrotechnics, to a beyond-life nirvana that Carter describes as "a masterpiece of pleasure". 'Carolina', meanwhile, contains more ambition than most groups conceive in a career, culminating with our enigmatic frontman delivering an operatic finale of dazzling, knockout panache.
And while the group are occasionally hamstrung by functional rhythms, dragging momentum, and Carter's moribund outlook and destitute delivery - check 'Donald Pleasance' - there is certainly enough here to destroy your aural retina. 'Pop Star' proves that, as the group break pace for the first time, and the rolling wall of sound - driven by 'Smile' era Beach Boys vocal gymnastic samples and Carter's next in the firing-line stare - bring the curtain down on a memorable and giant step forward.
With the three-track, 'I Remember Trees EP' - which clocks in at a bravado-fired 21-minutes - about to hit stores, Flotation Toy Warning should rightly be catapulted right into the frontline. And though you may well have heard such claims before, believe me, it's rarely sounded like this.
