LATE NIGHT FICTION – EXITS, PURSUED BY A BEAR
Released 30th January 2012 (Grey Man Records)

Words: Gaz Martinez

I cannot possibly think of what Late Night Fiction were thinking when they decided to name this track, that said, with the way the song progresses, the title, Exits, Pursued by a Bear begins to feel like an increasingly adequate name. Late Night Fiction’s newest single does is not frantic or horrifically fast paced, as if you literally are being pursued by a grizzly, it’s something else altogether.

With Phil Morris viscerally shrieking in a way beautifully reminiscent of Simon Neil, I hear subtle hints of early Biffy Clyro (and I mean Vertigo of Bliss early, for those of you that think Puzzle was their debut.) and Exits, Pursued by a Bear does a good job of naturally flowing from one passage into the other, from the soft guitar intro, it takes you where you don’t expect it to, and doesn’t finish where you would expect it to, chopping and changing in the most natural way imaginable. It’s nice to hear that Reece Britton’s bass is not left out, providing a nice pulsing section while the guitars twinkle and dance around it.

Judging from the band’s website, they state that in just under two years they have played with the likes of Sucioperro and Twin Atlantic, in my opinion, good on them! I haven’t heard of these fellows before but if more of their material is on the same level as this frankly quirky, but surprisingly enticing song, then they will be performing with bigger bands before long, and bands may even say they have gigged with Late Night Fiction, as a way of showing off their credentials.