Prog-rock is supposed to be cold — or at least it seems to come out that way. So it's always a welcome surprise to find proggers who can get their human groove on while maintaining the beauty, grandeur and complexity that mark the genre's peaks. Diagonal, an amiably shaggy-looking seven-piece from the Brighton, U.K. seaside (two guitarists, drummer, bassist, synth player, one singer who doubles on organ, another who blows sax/flute/clarinet), pull the trick off better than any outfit in years. Their self-titled debut has only five tracks, the longest pair checking in at 10:54 and 14:00; press bio goes overboard dropping names of bands I can detect (King Crimson, Soft Machine, Gentle Giant, '70s Miles); bands I can't (MC5, Sex Pistols); bands I don't particularly want to (Mars Volta, Battles, Lightning Bolt); bands I haven't heard enough to be sure (Guru Guru, Colosseum); and one band I never heard of (Nucleus, unless they mean the '80s electro-rappers who did "Jam On It.") What, no Van Der Graaf Generator? (That last cut is dark!) Whatever — the record rules regardless. Acid-rock wah-wah and intermittent horns drift in and out of minimally repetitive but supremely… read more »