Tarantula Rising

'Tarantula Rising' is the debut album by Scottish alternative rock band The Poison Sisters. Please take some time to read these reviews - they might help you to know what you're letting yourself in for !! F+J MAIL ORDER (U,K,) - 'Tarantula Rising' ....This collection of songs veers wildly from minimalist trip-hop, thru sixties trash, then downwards into the shrieking of hell-bound souls. PARENTAL ADVISORY SPECIAL. LUNA KAFE' WEBSITE (Norway) - 'Tarantula Rising' ......... but though it may sound churlish, not even album of the month. No, that honour goes to the diametrically-opposed first LP from the Poison Sisters, Tarantula Rising. The name of the band, the Parental Lyrics Advisory note, everything points to an almighty punky thrash, though of course this wouldn't be a problem. However, though the likes of Chicane indeed sound a bit like a very lively Joy Division, with more controlled vocals from the rich vocal chords of singer Sandy Black, there's much more to this album. In fact the LPs starts off, musically at least, a little like the Wedding Present with 76yrs. Many of the songs too are broadly about lost loves, but the comparison ends there, in fact the lyrics and delivery are mildly threatening, and in places surreal. It's the constant switching of styles too that makes this album stand out - Insect Floor is a trip-hop-based nightmare of a spider-ridden room, Lovebug is a spoken story of what the narrator found deep at the earth's core, and Essential Oils might be, or might not be, about a drugs run gone wrong. All this backed up by the aforementioned variety of styles - the near-metal drumming and a lot of stop-start songs, false endings, the lot. The Poison Sisters (three blokes, naturally) have a personality crisis of Rosanne Barr proportions which happily leads to fun for all the family in fact (well, your parents might not like it). [This review] Copyright © 1998 Stuart McHugh JOCKROCK WEBSITE (U.K.) - 'Tarantula Rising' I'd expected this lot, for some reason, to make an awful (but good) racket like any other Scottish band whose name begins with 'P' (pH Family, Pink Kross et al). And they do. But not all the time. In fact, this is an album which lives up to it's press release - they say that it covers all musical styles, bit of trip hop thrown in, etc, the usual bollocks. But guess what, they speak the truth! The aggression is pretty much controlled, so you can hear that they have some pretty decent tunes here. And the trip-hop comes through as promised, in a clever way, a bit like Long Fin Killie did. But the comparison ends there, they're off on a nother direction after that, a bit Joy Division, a bit grungey in places, and plenty where they're simply the Poison Sisters. Oh, they say 'Parental Advisory' and that's true though often the adult might be best employed to explain them, they're a bit surreal in places. Nothing wrong with that, though. I could say that they're doing it for themselves, but it's not actually that D.I.Y./lo-fi. They're too clever for that. AUTO REVERSE (U.S)-'Tarantula Rising' I wish I could keep up with popular U.K. indie bands better because then I might have a shot at describing The Poison Sisters a little more accurately. Because what sounds to me like an innovative blend of Pantera and The Smiths (no shit) could very well be a highly derivative band that rips off whoever is this week's big deal in the N.M.E.. Just as someone in the U.K. could hear something like Limp Bizkit and think'wow, met