GASLIGHT RADIO Hitch on the Leaves 1998

By request

Review

by Ned Raggett

Practically unheard of outside Gaslight Radio's home continent, Hitch on the Leaves is a wonderful debut album from this quintet, equal parts pretty Cocteau Twins-inspired shoegaze and fragile rock drive. With the lovely chime of "New Estate Dreamboat" starting things off very well, Rory and Martin Cooke's guitars containing all the open-ended ringing one could want, the fivesome merrily make their way from softly melancholy strength to strength. Songs like "Spindlings of the Summer" and the majestic "Rosalie," with its vast sense of space and gentle impact, are sure to make any Chapterhouse, early Verve, or Kitchens of Distinction fan weep with delight that there's at least some bands out there still carrying the flame. Happily, Gaslight Radio don't sound like a cloning of any one group in particular, partially since the group turns from … » Read more