Eureka

The Abecedarians' first full record wore its British influences heavily on its sleeve, so it's no wonder the band had already released a single on Factory Records — at times, you get the feeling that all three members listened to nothing but Closer and maybe some A Certain Ratio and Crispy Ambulance material when they were first forming the band. Far from being simply copycats, though, the trio brought in a stark emotional and musical sensibility to the realm of American indie-rock of the time, avoiding either post-R.E.M. jangle or incipient punk-grunge snottiness. If anything, their peers were the likes of American Music Club and Thin White Rope, though Eureka's lengthy tracks doesn't quite reach as high as either of those two bands at their finest. Guitarist/vocalist Chris Manecke takes understandable center stage; his stringwork unsurprisingly relies heavily on digital reverb, though that isn't used as a fig leaf to cover inadequacies, as his sharp slashing on songs like "Ghost" demonstrates. As a vocalist, the Ian Curtis/Bernard Sumner style of flat projection is a clear model for Manecke, but so is the quiet intensity of the Comsat Angels' Stephen Fellows and the Sound's Adrian Borland's empathetic passion, making for an attractive overall combination. The crisp interplay of drummer Kevin Dolan and bassist John Blake (the latter of whom throws in some [at times] surprisingly funky fretless work) makes for the perfect counterpart to Manecke. Picking out highlights is a bit hard — Eureka is consistently strong throughout — but there are some definite breathtaking moments. "Soil" blends a relentless drive that calls to mind late-'70s Bowie with some truly haunting guitar lines, while the instrumental "The Other Side of the Fence" adds piano and synthesizer to a slightly gentler arrangement to set a definite sense of downbeat mood, much like Joy Division's "The Eternal."