The 286 are a 7-piece band from London comprising the full rock line-up (guitar, piano, bass and drums) augmented by a full-time string section (2 cellos and a violin), more ambitious than your usual spiky art rock three piece eh? ! But if your classical music knowledge doesn’t stretch beyond last night of the proms never fear, because the 286’s songwriting infuses their classical canvass(arrangements supplied by celloist Liv) with healthy bucketfulls of pop influenced melody(Beatles, Pink Floyd, Electric Light Orchestra etc).
On their new recent EP ‘A Victory for Battalion’, the 286 take fundamentally wistful balladry and drapes it in a orchestrated backdrop, it’s not over produced to the point of distraction either. By necessity or design they have allowed some of the rough homely edges to exist, which alongside the glee with which these songs are performed: shows a bravery, comradery and personality that should set them fair for future releases.
Seven minute opener ‘Suite’ sets the tone romping from clip clop early Floyd ballad into a expansive breadth of strings in it’s middle portion, before marrying the two sides up in a glorious third movement of oboes, cello, violins and what sounds suspiciously like the kitchen sink! And it sounds well very impressive, considering they probably couldn’t afford to dial in the symphony orchestra like Macca and co so they did it themselves instead!
“Hello” meanwhile is the most Beatlesy cut here, a stomping riot of chirpy head swaying melodies, rambunctious strings and a foot tapping rhythms augmented by sing along chorus’. It’s immediately redolent of The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper-era even perhaps even referencing it. And whilst obviously a homage which may stray a little too close to pastiche on occasion it’s a riotously playful one….
‘Sophie Sands’ continues in the prog-pop vein, starting with a gentle piano motif, laced with film samples, whilst belted out soulful swirl in the background so far so Pink Floyd ‘Greatest gig in the sky’ before breaking into a almost Wings-like ballad. A characterisation given life by the 286’s lead vocalist Nathan’s almost Elton-esque rasp in the singalong refrain ‘Good Old Sophie Sands/Nobody Understands’. By the outro it’s full on ‘Saturday nights alright for fighting’ mode. It may not be entirely original but it’s darn enjoyable none the less!
Title track ‘Batallion’, is even more Pink Floyd, melancholic vocals depicting a scene of fallen soldiers on the battlefield are somewhere between David Gilmore and Ozzy Osbourne. These are given momentum by stabbing violins, a piece in three movements, that rises into a patchwork of flute solos and sighing strings, before back to the original verse pattern. Solemn yet expressive.
While it’s fair to say that The 286 they aren’t reinventing the wheel and there are some bumps in the road but along the way they take you on a orchestrated journey through their mid 60s/70s influences: and in the main it’s a bloody enjoyable ride to be on!
[Rating:3]
