The Goo 1
Reviews Albums Nerves - Glorach I am goddamn elat
ed. As well as a wonderful discussion with Nerves' frontman and guitar mangler Kyle Thornton coming next issue, I was lucky enough to be sent an advance of this acerbic slab of wonder, aptly, brilliantly titled Glórach. My previous assessment namechecking Converge’s You Fail Me still stands, as well as nods to the forerunners of aggressive post punk from these shores, Gurriers and Gilla Band. The incredible textural work in Thorntons guitars and insistent pulse of bass from Charlie McCarthy is anchored by the dynamic, compelling drum work of Adam Nealon, at once bringing to mind Jason Roeder, Stephen Morris, and whatever the lads in Godflesh named their drum machine around the Messiah era. The album sees it lighten in timbre, if not mood throughout its runtime, recalling fellow noise wunderkinds CABL and some of those 80’s goth pioneers that every now and then find themselves summoned up to the infinite playlist. A truly essential little vinyl, and an easy, early pick for my year end lists. This slays. Get it. AOC A TRULY ESSENTIAL LITTLE VINYL PAGE 14 New Jackson - OOPS!...POP In his New Jackson guise, David Kitt has become a master at delivering a kind of Kompakt Records sound. The first two tracks ‘Si Si Si’ and ‘Burnt Deep’ (a nod to Pepe Braddock) remain true to this successful template. ‘Like’ pushes proceedings more directly to house music, with an easy Jürgen Paape style creation. Lead single ‘Out of Reach’ is a gear change but not like you might expect. It’s a proper menacing techno loop out of the gates, but a strangely Carter USM piano is the first indication something is occurring, as it turns into a modern electronic pop track. They’ll be dancing on the streets of München to this one. ‘Day in Shock’ crosses hip hop and electronica; a grimy base proving the juxtaposition to Fehdah’s absorbing vocal turn. In ‘The OK Hole’ Kitt imagines what it might be to descend into a K-hole. It makes for a wonderfully atmospheric, cozy, liquidy techno trip. The most remarkable track on the album is a reimagined electro pop version of The Stone Roses anthem ‘I Wanna be Adored’. There’s something incredibly authentic, like it could have been an unreleased mix at the time. It’s quite convincing in that regard and likely to be a quirky club hit. The last track ‘With the Night at Our Feet’ is a fantastic, almost euphoric closer with a hint of Hot Chip. It also has brilliant dance floor crossover potential. It’s a fitting way to finish a genre spanning opus from one of our most talented artists. DC Havvk - To Fall Asleep Havvk are a band that perfectly capture a particular atmosphere with their music and their new album To Fall Asleep does that exact thing, taking you into a dark and murky world with haunting hooks from lead singer Julie Hawk. The album explores themes of sleep, mental health and gender with opener titled ‘Daylight Robbery’ immediately drawing you in with its punchy chorus and grungy riffs. The album delves into many different genres such as punk, grunge and shoegaze with the title track in particular being a two and a half minute piece of pure shoegaze excellence. To Fall Asleep barely gives you a minute to catch your breath with songs like ‘Expiry’ and ‘White Noise’ being full speed ahead anthems. With one of the albums main themes being sleep and ADHAMH O’CAOIMH / DAVID CARR / JACK MCBAIN / ETHAN GOLDING therefore lack of sleep the album takes you into a world of endless sleepless nights (in a good way!). The care and attention Havvk take with creating a certain soundscape is clear to see on this album with fantastic production from Belfast based producer Rocky O’ Reilly who alongside Julie and guitarist Matt Harris have found a perfect sound to compliment raw and honest lyrics. ‘To Fall Asleep’ is an album that I believe will really make people stand up and acknowledge the brilliance of Havvk and it’s highly recommended for lovers of grunge filled shoegaze bangers. JMB Jonathan Deasy & Alex Reviriego - Postcard II Released on the excellent Spanish experimentalist tape imprint Crystal Mine, this remote collaboration between Cork based composer/ multi-Instrumentalist Jonathan Deasy and Barcelona Double Bass visionary Àlex Reviriego is an exploratory union between improvisation, extended technique and software manipulation. On the first track of the piece, delicate and wintry contrabass harmonics and are abstracted and layered, lending an echo of eastern instruments