Space Needle

Voyager (Zero Hour)
by Joshua Brown

Guitarist Jeff Gatland and vocalist/keyboardist/ drummer Jud Ehrbar, Space Needle‘s only two members, assure us that they’re “living in a world where there’s nothing to be scared of.” They’d be comparable to the anti-pollyanna sedative of Spacemen 3 if they weren’t so damned experimental, suggestive at times of Front 242 with a distortion pedal, at others of a more introspective Stereolab. Comparisons aside, Voyager is a heavily ambitious work of art that is a perfect companion to your morning cup of coffee, when reality is still silk-screened with dream residue. Voyager was recorded on a 4-track bought by Gatland with money raised cleaning pools, and the blue-collar intelligence of Space Needle is part of what makes them genuine. The problem is that they run out of ideas halfway through the album. What had been vital and charming turns into endless repetitive guitar wanking. It’s worth the bucks though, if only for the first half of the CD.