Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It’s a fact of life that to continually amaze people, to surprise them with each and every moment that the creative soul lives in, is damned near impossible; at some point the great fog of indifference, even if for a short while, is sure to set in and the juices which once flowed freely, stumble and bemuse the artist. For the Theme, one of London’s premier bands in which to see live, that bemusement is so far off that it practically runs a retirement home in Glamorgan and the rough and ready splendour of In A Daze reigns supreme.
To follow up their renowned E.P. Hits The Sky the band take the fog and scatter it to the four winds, they grapple with the syndrome of the punishment of writing a great response to their own magnificent question and the four track E.P. In A Daze reflects the ice cold cool that sits at the very heart of the band. The genuine appreciation they have built up as a group with catchy riffs and excellent observations on life, the absurdity of the personal revolution and the feelings that rage round the body in meeting someone who could be the right person for you or might be the undoing of everything you know.
Life for the most part is spent in a distant fog, creatures of reaction rather assertion, being in a daze is nothing new as clarity, complete 20-20 foresight is arguably too exhausting for the human mind to cope with at all times. Yet the foresight offered by Paul Bassom, Gary Davis, Peter Sim, Martin Gamby and Darren Cade in the songs Here She Comes, New Revolution, I Met A Girl and the E.P. title track are of tremendous quality and an inspiration to all in how to by-pass the awkwardness associated with trying to top something awesome.
For The Theme, it goes to show just what a collection of characters they have, that the make-up of the band is absolute and thrilling, because of this they don’t need to worry about matching themselves in anything; simply being themselves is more than enough to love what they release and In A Daze is a just that, an E.P. to cherish.
Ian D. Hall