The Rock Of Travolta / Fine Lines

The Rock of Travolta
Fine Lines
(Big Red Sky Records)
* * * *

Progressive rock continues its long hard march back into the land of credibility, with the muscular post rock surrealism of Oxford's Rock Of Travolta.

As if taking the piss out of this country's endless supply of Libertines/Oasis imitators, the opening track is called 'Rock By Numbers' - and of course, it's the complete opposite. Driven along by alien invader synths and Soviet-era Russian chanting, it pauses only to crack open a can of filthy riffs.

A more orchestral and (dare I say) rustic side to the band is revealed by 'Last March of the Acolytes', which flirts between a wintery sense of melancholy and yet more urgent riffage of the highest caliber.

The record only gets weirder: 'The Goddamn Remote' throws together 60s fiddle folk and Radiohead-style guitar fireworks, with an apocalyptic male choir leaning into the picture occasionally, just because... well, why the hell not, eh?

Emotively grand yet entirely organic, The Rock of Travolta are a great example of a band who're sculpting their own insular universe, and it's fascinating to have a peek inside.