Ten Past Seven - Shut Up Your Face
Out on a Limb - 2006 - 43 minutes
Satisfying the demands of fans of both Tortoise and System of a Down at the same time could be considered a task as daunting as re-filing your record collection based on how often you've listened to any particular song, but - at their best - Kerry trio Ten Past Seven show they're up to it.
Most instrumental rock albums now tread well-worn paths rather than blaze trails, and there are occasions on 'Shut Up Your Face' that Ten Past Seven veer a little too close to the predictable or over-complicate things when keeping it simpler would be more powerful. That said, when they opt for all-out fury they're a fearsome proposition that should fear no-one they have to share a stage with.
What Ten Past Seven need to do now is make their songs as standout as their playing - knowing that less often equals more. That done, their time will surely come.
Harry Guerin
Tracklisting: The Purple Dot - Comedy - Back in Business - No Bother - Waft On - Egg Language - Conjunctivitus - Pistachio - Budáin
