After reviewing the lovely, ‘The Rising Tide’ last month, I knew I had to jump on the opportunity to review, First Day Of Spring’s latest EP. Be My Hospital does indeed live up to the greatness I expected of the band.
In my previous review of their offering, I noted the band sounded completely relaxed in their output. Their influences include some of the most legendary guitar bands, bands who did new and exciting things with the instrument that had never been heard before; bands like Spiritualised, Sonic Youth, and Cocteau Twins. It is a hefty list, but one the band are clearly comfortable being in debt to.
‘You’re Blue I’m Blue’, is a scuzzy, slow-burn of a song, sounding like the hypothetical brainchild of London-based alt-rock band, Happyness, and slowcore legends, Duster. It is gorgeously noisy, with the motif of its title repeated throughout. As mentioned in my previous write-up, ‘The Rising Tide’ contains the harsh grit of Sonic Youth, and the painfully distorted vocals of Sparklehorse. ‘Old World’ is a career highlight. Beginning with a trill of piano and a relatively chilled atmosphere, it launches into a cacophony of Slowdive-like guitars, soaring before slowly dying away. My personal favourite, ‘On Monday’ is the dreamiest of dream-pop: it is slow and twinkling; it is loud and ferocious; it shows restraint, yet is the perfect example of the dynamism of the genre. Over just four songs, First Day Of Spring, manages to cover the scope of human emotion with an ease that makes it sound effortless.
Be My Hospital ends like the going down of the sun; it is strong and wild while it is here, but before you know it it has disappeared as if it was never there. And like the sun, I am sure this is not the last we shall hear from, First Day Of Spring. The London five-piece excels at capturing emotion in song. Each one of the four tracks on their new EP contains different feelings, a reflection of the multitudinous of human experience. It is a wonderfully honest piece of work, one that I am sure will deepen the band’s stakes on the musical map.
Written by Callum Foulds
