My son Ieuan attends the school that this cd is raising money for and it is worth every penny not only because it is for the school but because it is such an excellent, punchy, raw sound that puts it's message across so well.
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Impressive Debut Album by pop-prog Magpies.

It's unusual, quirky, affecting and fun to listen to, with lilting, folky segments, followed by electronic tweakery and rock-out sections. Acoustic guitars and the vocals of mainman Richard Banbury ring out clear and true with a good production throughout - it simply doesn't sound like a shoestring release: it's full-bodied and punchy.

The first track and lead single, Why Are We Why?, is a fun, rollicking, fast-paced track placed halfway between Blur's lawks-ain't-everyfing-English? tracks and American punk - just a little hint of Nirvana creeps into a few of these songs.

Fractured Persona itself sounds like Cardiff's own Soft Hearted Scientists with its close-harmony vocals and tinkly acoustic guitar, but there's some more discernable early seventies prog and rock influence to come.

Barrier has something of Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson about the vocals, then End Of The Line leaps from Meddle-era Pink Floyd in the verses to a big rockist chorus with satisfying power chords. Fractured Persona are a musical soup - The Kinks and The Beatles join the party too.

The strangest song here is Just A Man, with its epic solo guitar work and stadium-style rock production. They sound like they're live at Cleveland Enormodome effortlessly. You feel slightly dirty, but it's a definite cheap rock thrill.

Catch Me (I'm Falling) is a lilting, string-laden tear-jerker, and Unspoken ends with Banbury welding gravelly vocals to deliciously chugging riffs and shredding guitar solos.

Given that this album is designed by the band as 'a vehicle to raise awareness of all mental illness', it's probably politically incorrect to call it 'schizophrenic', but it's a stylistically-varied piece of work that just about fits together. It's certainly head and shoulders above most charidee releases.
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