Windings
	(Out On A Limb/CD)
	Michelle Dalton

There's a growing legion of Irish musicians who are taking a break from their day jobs and branching off to test the waters on their own. And much like Richie Egan aka Jape showed that he can carve out one hell of a good album (or indeed in his case, two) without the company of the other 75% of the Redneck Manifesto, Steve from Giveamanakick and Tooth has also taken a sabbatical to deliver Windings. And Windings is surprisingly quite an eclectic affair. While there are glimpses of the minimalism and heart-on-sleeve approach of Smog on the beautifully sparse To Follow…, Windings can just as effortlessly turn his hand to exploiting more claustrophobic terrain. Indeed there is every chance Windings spent as much time listening to My Bloody Valentine records in his youth as he did to Cohen and Dylan. On the gorgeous Bubbles, Aisling Geary's vocal intimacy matches perfectly with Steve's, while Succeed should keep even the most ardent rocker happy. The sweet shuffling eighties dance-pop of It's OK shows what one minute instrumental interludes are capable of in the right hands. At times the album's darker, heavier propositions reveal the musical pedigree of Windings, however for the most part each song starts on a blank canvas and you are never quite sure what will come next.??Somehow though, Windings' vulnerability marries with his rock-outs comfortably enough to ensure a promising debut album. The fuzzy, gothic math-rock Postal still manages to accommodate a gorgeous acoustic centrepiece, and coupled with the frailty and tenderness of Bubbles and To Follow, Windings shows how to deliver a record that's not just about lashing out riffs and teenage poetry.