April 18th, 2005
Ambulance Ltd - Ambulance Ltd
Ambulance Ltd
Ambulance Ltd ****
At last a new band from New York that are actually doing something that most of its contemporaries aren’t. Ambulance Ltd. sound more Manchester than Manhattan and by that we mean more like the Smiths than the Happy Mondays. They rock out in a way the Smiths never did, but ‘Ophelia’ owes a debt to Morrissey et al and ‘Yoga Means Union’ definitely echoes ‘How Soon Is Now’?. ‘Anecdote’ announces a change of course with its harmony-riddled chorus suggestive of The Beach Boys, but the guitars are firmly country (Think Gram Parsons, not Garth Brooks, please). The album pinballs through several styles and Ambulance Ltd. seem just as happy with pensive pop-rock ballads as more downtempo, experimental riffing like ‘Stay Where You Are’. This album may orbit its main influences, but it remains seperate from them, loyal to its own vision and uniqueness. A solid, slick debut from a guitar band who have sidestepped the glut of derivative rock bands cluttering up the airwaves these days.
Info: Ambulance Ltd.