Poor Genetic Material - A Day in June

After their successful adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tempest on their last album Island Noises, Poor Genetic Material spent two years to develop another literature-inspired project which also gave them the opportunity to realize a plan they had been brewing for quite a while: that of bringing together Phil Griffiths and his dad, Martin (of BEGGAR'S OPERA fame), as lead singers on one album. On A Day in June, Martin shares the vocals with Phil on three songs, and each of them has two lead tracks. James Joyce's novel Ulysses, on which the new album is based, provides an ideal frame of reference for this collabo-ration in that it both tells of father-son-relationships and opens up a wide array of themes and motifs to play around with. Apart from the resulting lyrics, which are refreshingly different from the run-of-the-mill fare of much of today's rock music, the album features what over the years has matured into the band's distinctive musical style. Excellent playing combined with inventive songwriting went into creating tracks that range from the delicately melodious to the more noisily progressive, from accessible tunes to quirkily complex arrangements. But what makes the album truly unique is indeed the singing: Martin is back with a voice that is as powerful and captivating as ever and Phil leaves us amazed at what he can pull out of his bag of musical tricks. The way the two voices at times resemble each other and then cover entirely different points of the vocal spectrum makes for a rare treat. All in all, A Day in June shows Poor Genetic Material at the height of their creative powers.