Early Day Miners

The intro moments of "In the Fire" will startle some into double-checking the album information. After all, Early Day Miners songs have normally tended to propagate like pollen, not bounce on a bass pulse. On their sixth full-length in ten years, the Indiana outfit have a freshly mixed line-up and an un-bottled energy that retains the vapour trail of their past trajectory. On "Spaces," new member Marty Sprowles (of Panoply Academy) sets a strident drum tempo that's matched by bassist Jonathan Richardson's discovery of his inner Adam Clayton. Another echo of the '80/'90s is heard in Daniel Burton, whose vocals occasionally have Security-era Peter Gabriel qualities. The groove that holds the album together makes it possible for keyboard drones and touches of more exotic instruments to enhance the cadence rather than carry it, as before. As transformations go, a new, surefooted Early Day Miners are a little startling but this is a good new starting point for fans and the band alike.