Quantum Pig are a duo from South London consisting of Ian Faragher and Mark Stevenson. This is their debut album, was released in February 2019 and features seven songs with a running time of forty-one minutes. It features Craig Blundell on drums and was mixed by John Mitchell. A fun fact about the band’s name is that it came about because they (rather drunkenly) decided they wanted something scientific and the name of an animal combined.

 

“Statement Of Intent” is a mid-tempo five-minute rocker. It opens with deep thudding drums before heavy distorted guitars come in. Lyrically the song talks about what humanity has done in the past and that we should change our future. Like most of the album, it is not a political song but more humanitarian. A superb song to open the album with.

 

“Citizen And State” is the shortest song on the album and is a lot faster. I love the synth arpeggio mixed with the punk guitar. Lyrically this song deals with anger towards those who can show kindness but choose apathy instead. One of my favourite songs on the album.

 

“Long Letter Home” is just under twelve minutes long, is divided into three parts and is by far the longest song on the album. It has a wonderful instrumental section around the five-minute mark (where part one joins with part two) with some beautiful reverb-heavy piano playing and a wonderfully simple but soaring guitar solo around eight minutes in. This song is more lyrically philosophical and talks about astronomy and humans travelling further into space. It even mentions a certain Pink Floyd album. I can see a lot of influence from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ in this song. Another highlight and not just because it is long.

 

“The Shadows We Miss” is another mid-tempo rocker and has a lot of acoustic mixed in with the distorted guitars in its near six minutes. The lyrics give a message that humans are not actually bad people but are just misguided and that we never really grew up. Some people may call it religion and others may just call it hope. “There’s light in the heart of the darkness.”

 

“Things” is another of the two fast songs on the album, is the second shortest song and talks about how people will want to leave a legacy and will try and do as much as they can and get as much attention before they die.

 

“Keep The Nation Warm” is seven minutes long and is one of the three highlights. The acoustic guitars, synth arpeggio and programmed drums make this a very interesting song musically especially as the distorted guitar and drums come in later. A special mention should go to the guitar solo played by John Mitchell. It talks about a nation and a planet in limbo and not sure which direction to turn, trapped between the traditions of the past and the progress of the future. Maybe the best thing to do is just to stop worrying and try to live a good life.

 

“Dirty Old Engine” is a simple song based around piano and is a requiem for the Industrial Revolution. It is may seem slightly out of place compared to the other six songs, but it is a lovely end to the album.

 

One thing I really enjoyed was reading the lyrics while listening to the album and making my own interpretations of what the band are talking about. Musically, Quantum Pig take their influences from punk and new wave music with heavily distorted guitars and pounding reverberating drums and mix it up with Pink Floyd style melodies and keyboards adding plenty of colour. The result shouldn’t work but it does, and it sounds like nothing you have ever heard before. One of the finest debut albums I have ever heard.