Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

In adversity, even if it is unintentional and comes out of the blue like a rhino wandering down the town’s high street and not caring less who sees him, comes the greatest of challenges; you can either surrender to the moment and see the dream fade, or you can roll with it, you can reinvent yourself and become hopefully an even sturdier body, a greater image than you may have thought possible.

There is arguably no greater adversity for a band than when they lose a key figure, when the intention of all that has gone before changes in the split second and the forced or unexpected separation. It is in the adverse that a person will rise or tumble and for Glossom, a great band with a flourishing reputation behind them, know and understand the hardship that such a seismic, in music terms, can have on a young and aspiring band.

You can either go under, sink into the abyss of broken bands and forget, or you can strive on, battle cry of a thousand wordless anthems at your disposal and it is to that end that Glossom have made their mark once again with a stirring live set recorded at Liverpool’s Elevator Studios and titled Verbatim.

The five track strong E.P. takes the band in a new and it has to mentioned, exciting direction. Without the very astute lyrics that have guided the definition of the band, there might have been fears that the band could have imploded and gone to the winds like a blown dandelion. However they are a group of musicians to whom beef and brawn are a challenge worth scaling and in the best of Jazz like tradition, they face off against adversity with sturdy intent.

In the tracks A To Do, Waves, Particle, No, Not Really and Here Before, the resolution to continue is given greater significance and one that makes the listener smile at the possibilities as the keen notes and sense of durability takes shape.

To resign is understandable, to allow life to deal you a card in which you can top is to achieve a greater sense of the world you inhabit and for Glossom, seemingly perhaps rudderless, they strive on with a course not charted but with the very best of compasses and ability.

Ian D. Hall