Tabernacle – Word, Pioneer
This stuff is lovely: ghostly Americana with broken, desolate vocals full of heartbreak rather than rage, and the most bare-boned of backing. Yes, I know, I cover a lot of this stuff. In fact you may have heard fragments of this music before, as there is a connection with Dame Satan, whose album I reviewed very positively a couple of months ago. Basically, this is the work of Andrew Simmons of that band – it’s a project, not a band, as his MySpace page informs us.
I’d be pleasantly surprised if anyone reading this remember Lincoln, apart from Tim from The Daily Growl, but that is the immediate comparison which springs to mind. They were a London-based band who recorded two great EPs, Barcelona and Kibokin, and a great album, Crooked Smile, before disbanding roughly four years ago or so. The sounds were quite similar: with relaxed splashes of organ, a casual drum beat and lazily played guitars creating the atmosphere, augmented with care by banjo, some deep strings and the odd bit of what sounds like a melodica.
The distinctive character, however, comes from the tentative, slightly reedy male vocal and the gorgeous female support which decorates it. There is a sincere yearning to the vocal sound which makes this EP sound just a little desperate at times, with the warmth of the female more mocking and tantalising than comfortable. It is the voice of the slightly malevolent fairy you think you glimpse in the reeds as you slowly drown, who may be the one to save you, or a jilted spirit who has lured you to your death out of vengeance – you’re never quite sure.
In some senses I’d say that this record needs a little patience. It starts quite slowly, with the excellent Memphis clocking in at a stiflingly unhurried seven minutes. The pace picks up later, but it this does give things a slowish start, and many of the songs themselves follow this lead. It grips you, this EP, though, just in a paralysed and uneasy way rather than a manically excited one. It makes me slightly uncomfortable, but I really like it.
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Lincoln – Great Wall of China Just because they were really good.
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