Hercules Mandarin - Fast Behind The Times

The album sleeve of Fast Behind The Times could be taken as a staggeringly naive invitation for music hacks to indulge in derision, but it more likely represents a self-deprecating confession of their softly spoken folk leanings. The lack of immediacy in Hercules Mandarin’s austere balladry is offset by some lucid moments of ingenuity; opener Long Before Time seems like an archetypal love story until its explained that “pterodactyls start falling out the sky”. Through Your Mind’s Decline displays a more athletic arrangement amongst the slower tempo that dominates the record, and the blues guitar of Dark Shadows takes the edge off of saccharine tendencies elsewhere. Still, the temptation to judge an album by its cover persists; it’s not difficult to imagine songs like The Wave Singer accompany the opening titles of Hamish Macbeth. Sure, it might be middle of the road, but is that so bad?