Album Review: Thousand Yard Stare - "Earthanasia"

 

Bluddyell, now here's a name I didn't think I'd be seeing in the reviews column in 2023. Thousand Yard Stare were one of those bands who were briefly tipped to be the next big thing in the post-Madchester pre-Britpop indie ice age of 1992-93 but notched up just a sole Top 40 hit, 1992's Comeuppance (kind of a midway point between baggy and shoegazing) before disappearing as fast as they'd arrived as both of those movements descended into being terminally unfashionable.

The group reformed in 2015 and have been beavering away on the fringes of the indie scene since with Earthanasia being their second album (third if you include a live one) since reforming. And...well, to be honest, it sounds much the same as Thousand Yard Stare always did. The guitars on the likes of Measures, Espirit du Corps and the languid piano ballad Borrowed Time still wash over you like warm ocean waves while the songs lilt along gently without any real sense of haste. Thankfully there's a nervy post-punk energy on the likes of Upping Sticks, Isadora and Hivemind which adds some much needed doses of urgency to keep things chugging along.

In short, if you weren't a fan of Thousand Yard Stare in 1992 then Earthanasia is unlikely to change your mind - this is very much the sound of a band sticking to what they know best. But at least they offer up a competent enough take on the formula which should go down well with any shoegazing old timers or the new younger generation of fans this genre has attracted. In short - 'salright I s'pose.

Bandcamp Link

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)

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