Stuckfish’s last album, 2022’s Days Of Innocence, garnered much positive feedback. Although healthily varied, it primarily delivered great melodic rock with strong prog
roots. With the band having signed to dedicated prog label White Knight and welcomed new keyboardist Paul McNally since then, their new release, the minimally titled IV, comes with some level of expectation – on which it delivers.
Straight out of the gate, Shadows And Moonbeams allays any fears that the band may have gone rogue or lost their compositional spark. Opening with a direct yet gorgeous harmony a cappella vocal, which wouldn’t be out of place on any 80s album by Journey or Styx, it continues in hard AOR style while exploring the multi-faceted love life of late 19th-century French actress Sarah Bernhardt.
More AOR influences can be found elsewhere, notably on Lifeline, which features a soaring organ refrain and a tune that walks the line between melodic pop-rock and post-90125 Yes. In places, Phil Stuckey’s lead vocals are reminiscent of IQ’s Peter Nicholls – such as on the choruses of Liberty, the stately, keyboard-led intro that drops into more taut neo-prog territory for the bulk of the song.
At the close of the album, Skies Fall again suggests additional IQ comparisons as its dark, gently threatening synth intro slowly builds, adding voice and grating guitar, then teases the listener as elements are pulled out and pushed back to the fore again. It’s a song about a near-death experience, and it consistently builds tension and gives only fleeting relief.
Elsewhere the band toy with prog meets synthpop meets The Police in Fragile, while JFKX – “Just For Kicks,” rather than anything related to assassinated US presidents – is a slice of uptempo pop-rock that belongs on a road-trip playlist.
Time Of Your Life examines the tensions between personal aspirations and the pressure of other people’s desires, in a song that builds from picked acoustic guitar and atmospheric swathes of synth. It also manages to throw in some spoken word, and a great melodic guitar solo from Ade Fisher.
They’ve hit upon an approach that makes what they do sound fresh and engaging
Stuckfish could never be accused of being too avant-garde or experimental; neither are they virtuosos intent on endlessly demonstrating how bloody clever they are. Their songwriting is largely grounded in rock and western pop music norms. However, they have hit upon a combination of elements and an approach that makes what they do sound altogether fresh and engaging.
Despite the occasionally downbeat and introspective themes and lyrics, there’s an excitement and a joy to this album that is genuinely uplifting. Further quality output from a class act.
IV is on sale now via White Knight Records.
