And Also The Trees
And Also The Trees

The Cure were one of the most significant bands in the dark era. Their sharp and excessively reverberated sounds set a trend, producing dozens of clones ready to jump on the winning bandwagon. In reality, the movement soon dwindled, as it was essentially a fashion that was often banal. In summary, you can count on the fingers of two hands the bands that really had something to say. The rest, just more or less unabashed imitators.

The album in question falls into this category.
If you listen to The Cure's "Pornography" and then insert this record into the player, it will feel like a continuation of the previous one. Same sounds, same atmospheres, and even Simon How Jones' voice is almost identical to Robert Smith's. Let's be clear, "Pornography" is decidedly superior in every aspect, but this work is not light years apart. Now, a nitpicking question arises. Did they really mimic The Cure's sound, or vice versa? The release date of this album is 1983, while Pornography's is '82. But And Also The Trees had been playing like this since 1979, and the following year they began touring as the opening act for The Cure. Smith himself has highlighted the friendship with the group several times (which later deteriorated), and it was keyboardist Lawrence Tolhurst who produced their first two singles. In short, a real mess. However, beyond these discussions which are ultimately futile, what we are most interested in is the music.

Well, the album resonates darkly, not spectral but rather warm, distressing, claustrophobic, with a dose of malice and theatricality superior to The Cure. The voodoo cadence that opens things up is perfect for the leader’s demonic screams and the slashing guitar strokes. An overused script and frankly too predictable. A glimpse of light seems to come from the subsequent "Talk Without Words," with a slightly more open and sunny melody. However, this episode, though adequate, presents too many naiveties to astonish. The discussion doesn’t apply to "Midnight Garden," the first truly high-level track. A circular dance like the best moments of dark, with the usual hypnotic guitar figures in the foreground, obscured by an impending layer of electronics and a rhythm that occasionally becomes galloping. A small gem. The violent prophecy of "The Tease The Tear" cannot boast the same title; although decent, it does not repeat the miracle, enveloped in malevolent guitar coils and a bass that roars as the best tradition of the genre demands. The atmosphere becomes even more distressing in "Impulse Of Man," a dark ceremonial among echo-laden screams and abrupt rhythmic staccatos. The usual blood-stained guitars make the sky gloomy.
We have reached the true masterpiece of the album, which frankly alone would justify the purchase: the splendid "Shrine". A dreamy and evocative melody, almost ethereal in its delicate stride, which magically transforms into a very sad psalm for drifting souls, and equally magically returns to the gentle initial breeze. This alternation of moods, but especially their enchanting succession, make the piece one of the best in all of dark.
Obviously, compared to this, the damned gloominess of "Twilight Pool" seems ugly, but it is not at all. It is certainly less suggestive but always maintains excellent levels. It is undoubtedly the most electronic track of the lot, with Jones's voice, affected like never before, dueting with a mechanical rhythm of drum machine. It closes with "Out Of The Moving Life Circles," in a more serene and consolatory atmosphere, between sweet guitar notes that cradle delicately and the usual looming cavernous bass.

The album's fame in the dark-underground scene is certainly excessive, undoubtedly influenced more by the "cult" than by its actual musical value. However, it is undeniably a good album, at times naive and winking at the easiest stereotypes, but characterized by uncommon class and a fascinating "spleen".
For dark enthusiasts, certainly a must-have.