Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Neither in nor out, stuck on the sidelines but called upon because you might add something unexpected, never belonging to a group but also on the fringes of acceptances, to be on the periphery is to feel both isolated, alone but also feel the smallest bit of hope that, like all human beings, that you will come out of the shadows.

It is the same in art, you can struggle against the wave of eternal ignorance, being seen by a collected few who appreciate your work but never quite finding the mass appeal to take you away from the margins. To some though the Periphery is a safe place, the space where a revolution can grow unnoticed, unhindered and one in which the imagination can grow freely and not constrained by the dogmatic attitudes of others; you just have to work out which one, the Select Difficulty you wish to choose.

For Periphery,  Select Difficulty is a great addition to their ever growing musical empire, it has the potential in the fan’s eyes at least to take on the words and drama of the previous albums and to be fair to the band, is also a set of songs that can be used as an introduction if needs be to the uninitiated and intrigued, a rare quality where even if not the band’s best work, it still serves its purpose of drawing people in and getting them interested enough to delve further into the world they inhabit.

Select Difficulty is the margins, it is the album that sits quietly in contemplation, ticking away with honour and yet almost as if by design, does not want to gain to close a friendship with the true inner circle as it is aware that at times that same clique is out of order, that they are the true outsiders to the world and its problems.

It is an admirable quality in which to belong and in the songs Motormouth, Marigold, The Way The News Goes and Prayer Position, the members of the band strike a bargain with the listener, an arrangement that shouts out loud, this is good stuff, it is unpretentious, it is real and it may hurt but by god it will still be enjoyed.

Select Difficulty is the choice when there are no choices, when what you have is an alternative behind the closed circle; it is one that in reality drowns out so many others unequal to the task.

Ian D. Hall