For their fourth EP, US lo-fi/anti-folk duo Vacation take on some familiar – and not-so-familiar – tunes by other artists. As Tori Amos proved time and again, you can take the most rocking numbers and reduce them to a minimalist piano ballad with reasonable ease, almost to the point where the once unimaginable becomes predictable. In some ways, Vacation play by a similar rule in that their chosen material gets stripped down and re-imagined in an echoing lo-fi acoustic fashion, but whereas Ms. Amos, Emm Gryner and countless other artists always ensure there was accessibility even within their most bizarre reimaginings, these guys just want to strip things back to their most stark. This results in at least one tune that’s anything but predictable.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
GAZPACHO – Demon
After a decade’s worth of interesting material and some prestigious support slots (including a full European tour with Marillion in 2003), Gazpacho showed no sign of running out of creative steam. Their 2012 release, ‘March of Ghosts’ fused elements of Floyd with hefty doses of quieter Porcupine Tree and Pineapple Thief-esque prog to create one of their best albums to date. Two years on from ‘Ghosts’, their eighth studio album ‘Demon’ is a dark and sprawling work, culminating with an eighteen minute showpiece. Again, the element of storytelling is key – in this case, the ramblings of a possessed apartment inhabitant in Prague – but for those who do not wish to be bogged down with concept details, thankfully, the music is captivating enough to be enjoyed on its own terms.
SILVER ARM – He Of The Slow Creep EP
UK four-piece Silver Arm bring plenty of punch and absolutely no padding to their 2014 EP ‘He of the Slow Creep’. The result – four slabs of fantastic guitar driven post-punk noise in a fraction over ten minutes; four numbers showcasing a band who really know how to hit a sound home as directly as possible. Naturally, there’s some obvious recycling from a couple of classic influences along the way, but Silver Arm ensure these sounds will thrill listeners who weren’t even around to hear the first wave of post-punk and goth rock bands in the early eighties.
WAX FANG – The Astronaut
Following a release of a handful of digital onIy singles released throughout 2013, Wax Fang pull out all the stops on this full-length offering – five tracks, forty-plus minutes and the disastrous tale of “an astronaut separated from his craft and swallowed by a black hole”. In the hands of some, a concept album can be fabulous, in others, it’s the worst kind of self-indulgence not far from career suicide. Thankfully, for Wax Fang, ‘The Astronaut’ and its grand scale works well, the directness of parts of their music overshadowing most of the potential for grandiose meandering. This sprawling opus has one main aim: to grab the listener and sonically melt them with the push and pull between hard rock grooves and sonic textres. Various influences drift in and out – from Hawkwind, Muse, tiny nods to Mars Volta, ambient, Krautrock and touches of stoner – though none ever quite take a dominant hold, meaning Wax Fang’s odd menagerie of noise-making isn’t always too predictable.
FUNKYJENN – Rock ‘N’ Roll Voodoo Queen
You know what they say – if you don’t want your music to date, make music with an old heart. It’s a game plan that’s stood The Black Crowes in good stead for many a fine record; nor does it hurt so many blues-rock bands out there whose work draws its main thrust from The Stones and The Faces, circa 1971. For blues and bar-room rock, that seems to be the point where everything stops…and miraculously rarely sounds dated and oft retains a vigour that sits at the heart of so much great good-time r ‘n’ r. Jenn’s sound is made of such classic stuff: each of its elements instantly familiar, warming and welcoming – and ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Voodoo Queen’ all the better for it.