Liam Finn - Champagne In Seashells (2009)

Review by Sean Lynch

There is little escaping the captivating melody which exudes from the Family Finn bloodline, nor is there a way of escaping the wonderfully complex musically mapped mind of Liam Finn.

The guy is simply a pocket rocket of energy and experimentation who laces each song with a sickly dash of creamy sweetness, making otherwise unpalatable sounds oddly appealing. 

Liam Finn's first LP "I'll Be Lightning" was a belter of a debut, although suffered greatly from being unable to match the raw power and manic inspiration of his one-man live shows.

That isn't the case with "Champagne In Seashells", an interesting splattering of five tracks of sound, which successfully captures the dirty grime of a Finn / E-J Barnes show while still managing to addictively eat away at your brain.

EP Opener Plane Crash is a soaring introduction to the deceptively sweet world of a Liam Finn song (which was a cornerstone of his earlier work in Betchadupa) where lullaby's erode into chaos.

Sure - it all sounds a bit wanky and loud at first - but once your brain syncs in, there is so much to enjoy here.

Admittedly there are some weaker points throughout the five tracks.

There is a distinct smell of "B-Sides" to one or two tracks in particular,  but one can assume the intention is for a maximum of two tracks from this to cross over onto the inevitable "Difficult Second Album".

"Champagne In Seashells" highlight comes in the form of Long Way To Go which drives it's way into your mind like some kind of Star Trek based earwig and will have you robotically dancing like you were in a Split Enz film clip in no time.

Yet another addition to a fine back catalogue, and one which suggests quite a bit of promise from LP #2... and don't even get me started on the beautiful looking recycled packaging.

I'm such a package nerd... it is an actual problem I need to get looked at.

RATING: 3 out of 5