Future Clouds & Radar
Peoria

Review By Chris Drabick

After nearly two decades in the music business, it’s safe to peg Robert Harrison as a full-on anglophile. His previous outfit, the underrated and under-noticed ’90s power-pop outfit Cotton Mather, married straightforward Beatles sounds with a Squeeze sensibility. Mather even got love from fellow Beatles-imitator Noel Gallagher, prompting the band to have a bit of a late career renaissance on the Isle. The British love wasn’t enough to save Cotton Mather as a band, and Harrison regrouped with Future Clouds & Radar. The new band debuted last year with a sprawling double-album debut, garnering plenty of accolades for its (surprise, surprise) mastery of Beatles sounds with an XTC sensibility.

FC&R returns (fairly quickly) with Peoria, and while Harrison has trimmed things down to a regular old single record this time, this new one is really no less sprawling than its predecessor. This is eventually to its detriment, as a lack of focus sinks numbers like the over-wrought rocker “Eighteen Months” and the seven-plus minutes of “Mummified” (which could have easily shed almost half its length). There are winners, as “The Epcot View” showcases Harrison’s Lennon-esque voice to fine effect, and the album closing “Follow the Crane” evokes fellow anglophiles Jellyfish to nice effect. Overall, though, Peoria plays too often to Harrison’s weaknesses, although his strengths do occasionally shine through.