Grim Tower - Anarchic
Breezes (Outer Battery Records)
“Anarchic Breezes” is the
debut LP from Grim Tower, the Canadian duo of Stephen McBean (of Black
Mountain) and Imaad Wasif (collaborator with Yeah Yeah Yeahs).
The project started out as
an experiment around detuned acoustic guitars. The acoustic origins are still
intact yet have been expanded and overdubbed in the studio to make some tracks
into full acid-folk-rock passages.
After the grumbling “Soft
Séance”, complete with backward tape “Reign Down” (the highlight for me) slips
into earshot with banjos and tone generators, which give off a subtle
psychedelic country vibe.
The pace, often timed by
the beat of a funereal drum, seems quite laborious upon first hearing but
repeated listens allow the subtleties to come to the fore and although there
are a few weaker tunes, it’s a likeable collection.
The dark tone that Grim
Tower are aiming for (having been assigned the sub-genre "New Acoustic
Death Folk" by some) is possibly undermined by the lyrics which, depending
on your tastes, are a slightly cringe-worthy amalgam of fantasy, whimsy, cod
metaphor and post ‘60s countercultural cliché. That the album’s title
track is the only instrumental may be testament to this, and indicates how the
forging of the musical modes of past and present can work brilliantly – it’s a
great track, in the Espers tradition of new acid folk.
If you can tolerate or
enjoy tales detailing the “mythical forests”, “cosmic passageways”, “fabled
city in the sky” or “vast magnetic fortress” or can freely join in with the
“get high” rally of (the otherwise very likeable) “All the Beautiful Things”
then go for it!
Willsk
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