The Contrast
Forget to Tell the Time
It’s no surprise that this Peterborough, England-based retro-rock four-piece is the brainchild of a guitarist. Frontman David Reid’s Rickenbacker dominates the mix on almost every track, from the open-chord basher “Caught in a Trap” to the Byrds-on-steroids super-charged jangler “Ink,” the set’s most memorable song. The title track, a warning of impending cataclysm (“We are on a collision course / But I think we will be fine / If we forget to tell the time”), mixes chords borrowed from Tom Petty’s “Refugee” with lush, elegiac vocal harmonies. And when the roaring wall of six-strings threatens to get tedious, Reid and company deliver the spacious “Hold Your Fire,” driven by walking bass, sparse jazz piano and Reid’s throaty, stuffy-headed nod to the voice of Elvis Costello.
