 | | Liam Frost – Show Me How The Spectres Dance |
Damon Gough’s had to deal with it, Stephen Fretwell’s battled it, and now it’s the turn of Liam Frost. Inevitably, Show Me How The Spectres Dance fails to live up to the immensely high expectations of Manchester’s music scene and the problems lie with both Liam and the audience. On our side, we have simply had too long mulling over how wonderful it could be, not least because the aforementioned Fretwell made a bit of pig’s ear of his own debut, so our expectations are far too high as we wish for the album to be a life-changer. Who could have come close to such a thing (although, you might argue that Damon did with Bewilderbeast)? But Frost lets himself down too. Great as his songs can be, particularly the epic Mourners of St Paul’s and the ever impressive She Painted Pictures, his charm and spell-spinning abilities are lessened by a combination of lumpen songwriting and over-cleaned production. In keeping with his fairground artwork, it’s a rollercoaster of a collection. No sooner are you cranking up with excitement at the likes of The City Is At Standstill and Paperboats, than you are plunged into disappointment by Road Signs And Red Lights and This Is Love. Thankfully, he’s had the good sense to close the album with his first genuine classic, the achingly beautiful Try Try Try, and it’s enough for you to forgive the mistakes that come before it and remember that he never asked to be Manchester’s ‘next big thing’. If we all back off a bit, he might just blossom into the best thing the city’s produced for a decade. | 
