BILL FISHER – How To Think Like A Billionaire – review

BILL FISHER – How To Think Like A Billionaire – review
Septaphonic

It’s all went worryingly quiet on the Church of the Cosmic Skull front. I don’t like that. Makes me to start to wonder about global conspiracies, koala bears and just why anyone would sook on a boiling.

But (Brother) Bill Fisher of that Parish has been suspiciously busy what with solo albums and Massive Hassle albums. This being the latest. Probably. I always wondered if he had a Todd Rundgren album in him and with “How To Think Like A Billionaire” he’s come very close.

Of course he describes it as “imagine Kate Bush and Tori Amos wrote a yacht doom album satirising the edgelord-tech-billionaire-worship generation, recorded by Peter Gabriel and Michael McDonald in the early 80s using an industry prerelease unit of the late 90s Yamaha PSR-8000 synthesiser, several heavily distorted guitars, and a baby grand.”

Which is utter tosh. It’s not nearly chest haired enough croon in origin to be yacht rock. It’s definitely in that 1977 Rundgren / Utopia crossover mould but with annoying splashes of 80s synths. The first couple of tracks would have been 1979 US Top 40 radio hits if someone with a user friendly voice had crooned them. ‘Overview Effect’ and Ride On, Unicorn’, at the very least, should have been on the soundtrack to something like “Code Name: Wild Geese”. Quality.

‘Consume The Heart’ shapes up as an outtake from “Oops! Wrong Planet” while ‘Xanadu’ is the one out and out yacht rock track. The second half fades away a bit, although ‘Yell Of The Ringman’ is a CotCS song by any other name and all the better for it. All ssshh and LOUD then ssshh then LOUD. With guitars. It’s my favourite.

It’s a step in another direction for Brother Bill and if not quite Up There with CotCS, it’s still a refreshing diversion in a world of mundanity.

This is a Link to the Bill Fisher website.

This is a Video for a Bill Fisher song.