Doppelgänger - Curve

This album will always remind of my time living in Hull and driving around the country lanes in my Mk III Ford Escort - the low thumping bass of this album was a great test for the newly fitted stereo system. I imagine people in the villages I passed through are still talking about 'the time of the curious earthquake'. Such was the power of my stereo when this album was played. 10W of pure power!
I came across Curve a year earlier when in 1991 they released three critically acclaimed EPs. Unfortunately these set such a high standard that the album could only be a disappointment. And it was - and that was when the backlash in the press started. One reviewer even likened that album sound to be more akin to a Sikorsky helicopter taking off than music. Garbage! Actually thinking about Garbage ripped off the Curve template and went on to be darlings of the indie press. Tschh!
Hearing it again for the first time in years I would agree that the the album is a little 'samey' but is certainly packs a punch in small doses, especially the stand out track and future single 'Fait Accompli' (although the single mix is much better than the album version).
I got to see Curve when they toured in 1992 and I don't think I have ever left a concert with my ears ringing so much. Surely the sign of a good gig! Toni Halliday was on top form that night as was Debbie Smith whose distorted guitar drive the songs forward.
I really enjoyed my 45 minutes in the shoe-gazing world of Curve, and if this is really what helicopters taking-off sound like then I will have to take another trip soon!