The Electric Soft Parade - Extra Sensory Perception (2002)

The Electric Soft Parade were one of my favourite bands of the early 2000's, and their debut album 'Holes In The Wall' is a classic of indie rock. The band were formed in Brighton by brothers Alex and Thomas White, the creative core of the band, as well as a number of other musicians with whom they recorded and performed live. Alex and Thomas originally formed Fixed Ascent (later The Feltro Media) with schoolfriends Alistair Gavan and Russell Gleason around 1997, and while ostensibly an indie outfit, there were flashes of the more complex symphonic arrangements and varied production values that would characterise the later Electric Soft Parade sound. The Feltro Media actually released an album in 1999, 'The Wonderful World Of The Feltro Media', including early versions of songs which would later appear on ESP releases, and following interest in the album the band were offered a deal with DB Records, signing with them in January 2001, and releasing their debut single the following April. Their original choice for a name was 'The Soft Parade' but were made to change it after legal action by an American The Doors cover band of the same name, adding 'electric' to differentiate the groups. 'Holes in the Wall' was released in February 2002 to wide critical acclaim, and like Editors from a previous post, each single that was taken from it was issued in a variety of different formats, each with its own exclusive b-sides. In fact there were so many extra songs that I made up another album from the b-sides of just four singles, which I burned to a CD and kept for nearly a decade. They also used to do a cover of Kylie Minogue's 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' when performing live, and I grabbed the recording that I found online at the time, and it was lucky that I did, as although the song has appeared on their 'A Decade Of Awesome' compilation, I think that's an inferior take compared to the one on here. So if you're new to band from their current 'Stages' album (which is excellent, by the way), or have followed them from the start like me, I think you'll appreciate this collection of their early work.  

Track listing

01 Broadcast (b-side of 'There's A Silence' 2001)
02 Hove Park (b-side of 'Silent To The Dark II' 2002)
03 Blitzed In 6/4 (b-side of 'Silent To The Dark II' 2002)
04 Sumatran (b-side of 'Empty At The End' 2002)
05 Start Again (from the CD issue of 'Holes In The Wall' 2001)
06 Can't Get You Out Of My Head (Kylie Minogue cover 2002)
07 On The Wires (b-side of 'There's A Silence' 2001)
08 The Loop (b-side of 'Empty At The End' 2002)
09 Stop (b-side of 'Same Way, Every Day' 2002)
10 Mood Swing (b-side of 'Same Way, Every Day' 2002)
11 Stay Where You Are (b-side of 'Silent To The Dark II' 2002)
12 Poems (b-side of 'Same Way, Every Day' 2002)
13 Zero Return (b-side of 'Same Way, Every Day' 2002)
14 Aerial Roots (b-side of 'Empty At The End' 2002)