From whichever side of the fog of the Tyne a band may originate, those hailing down upon us from the northeastern-most reaches of Ingerlund often come bearing abrasion, distortion, a seething sense of jolting and disjointing vitriol. Retriever however unapologetically shatter the mould as they present us with a true gem of a track in Happiness Falls: sure, the rolling thunder of a bass line that rumbles within spits and crackles with untamed overdrive that's mildly redolent of much of The Chapman Family's debut yet it comes smothered in a vivid lusciousness, in a reconstruction of sounds sooted over times past to conjure an overriding aesthetic that's overwhelmingly actual. The Newcastle-based outfit waded (metaphorically, presumably) across the aforementioned stretch of famed flume to reach Mackem badlands where the track was recorded with Neil Bassett of Hyde and Beast, crisp production values augmenting the spiralling whammy bar-smudged guitars and impressionistic washes of shoegaze that embellish this quietly glorious super chunk. Thank St. bloody Valentine it can, as of today, shack up in your harddrive for the hefty levy of a single click... Happiness Falls by RETRIEVER
