Making Instrumental music engaging and enthralling requires the elements at play to interact in blissful harmony, and for the musicians to command every aspect of a piece. It can also be harder to describe than music with vocals for some reason, which is why I hope you will respect me when I say I felt strongly about talking about the album. On Circles not only achieves an admittedly risky feat yet surpasses the standard for instrumental led music, giving every song an identity in itself and paying close heed to detail, colour and texture.
Wildblood opens on a gentle flow of keys, strings, and saxophone, summoning images of a day’s first light snaking its way through forests and between rocks to revive life. Later, the rising and falling arpeggios, and the sense of enormity conveyed by the four guitars, carry that idea of moving forward. You can picture animals waking from their slumber and plants throwing off the last vestiges of the cold and dark in a desperate search for warmth, as the sashaying instrumentals aided by the precise and flowing percussive elements, intertwine the glory of the piece with vestiges of darkness. This sense of vibrancy and power is carried forward on to Flowers Of Light, which is equally as euphoric and multi-colored in composition – vitally, these players never let their skills run away with themselves. Rather, every moment spills with animated hooks, which embed yourself in your memory and give the pieces a sense of continuity, in spite of the wonderful subtleties which weave their way through every second of the experience.
Nostalgist – featuring Kyle Durfey of Pianos Become The Teeth, and one of only two songs to feature vocals - proves a beautiful transitional track, in that it takes us from the elation of the openers to the quiet contemplation and introspection. The mood of Division Blues is far more one of meditation. Still deep and meticulous in playing, there’s a sense of resolve which surrounds the changeable ambiance, which submerges you in sound – if you devote your uncompromised thoughtfulness. Onsra excels in making the listener reminiscent for spring, light and warmth while allowing hints of melancholy to stay in place, keeping the cohesive and exploratory nature of the record flowing.
Moving Into Collapser, everything becomes far more threatening and intense, the instruments howl to deafening heights obeying a far more menacing sense of purpose as the surreal, sinister tones echo and reverberate off one another as if part of psychedelic and strange dystopia. Through the chaos though emerge gripping melodies and potent progressions, sustaining Caspian’s ever-elusive sense of charm, even if their huge compositions may make you wonder at the unified nature on display. Even Ishmael with its haunting strings and delicate acoustics proves a touching addition to the canon, taking cues from folk and world music, joining the parade of styles, making every single anthem distinct and divergent from the last, while still taking us on a sweeping and interconnected emotional journey. The term ‘Inspiring’ doesn’t do this album justice.
We close with Circles On Circles, the subtle and more traditional nature of which feels appropriate considering the musical voyage we’ve just been taken on. Honestly, if I had to choose a tone to acutely describe On Circles, it would be personal. It may calm you down or enthuse you depending on your frame of mind – either way, you are sure to have some emotional reaction. Like all the greatest music there’s an earnestness to Caspian’s writing that speaks of a desire to inspire, rather than to impress. 9/10
Beat City Tubeworks: Top Rock (The Sign Records) [Simon Black]
You see I love this job. Three or four times a month I get a bunch of new albums to listen to, from bands and genres that I would probably have never found on my own unless I came across them at a gig. And then, out of that pile come one or two little gems that make me smile and stay on the player long after they keyboard strokes of the review have dried online, and this lot are definitely one of the winners in this month’s slush pile.
Beat City Tubeworks are crackingly tight four piece garage rock band from the depths of Sweden, and stand out from the crowd from being exactly what they claim to be on the tin – no nonsense straight up and highly energetic 70’s influenced rock’n’roll - and second time out for these guys, with no signs of running out of energy. ‘Influenced’ is the key word here (think New York Dolls, or early Kiss), but this is not a clone band emulating days gone by - they’ve got their own vibe and the influence is more about tipping the hat to the energy of the period than the sound of the songs themselves. This type of record also gets away with much looser production values than many metal bands have to compete with in a crowded marketplace (to be honest, over-production tends to ruin the effect), and the Beat City Tubeworks have the balance just right here.
Being rock’n’roll, it’s a punchy little 30-minute affair, with ten little 3 minute barnstormers slugging you until you like it from a bunch of guys who have clearly been around the block once or twice. Off to a pogoing start with Roadrunner, the album bobs along at a head and toe-tapping pace, and into single Succubus (which to be honest is not the strongest track here). For me mid-album belter Archaic Approach is the strongest song on the album, but I can see any and all of these songs going down an absolute storm in a sweaty club somewhere where the carpet is more beer than thread. 8/10
Collateral: Collateral (Roulette Media/Cargo Records) [Simon Black]
This is a band who, had they released this debut album when I was a teenager, would have been an 80’s A&R man’s dream, be plastered all over young girls’ bedrooms the length and breadth of the country, and probably been out supporting a huge stadium act storming around the world like grunge was not about to send this genre of music the way of the Berlin wall. Collateral may have been born about 30 years too late for all that but that isn’t stopping them from trying.
Things have a habit of going around and coming around, and if the resurgence of interest in so many bands from that era who couldn’t sell out a toilet in the 90’s is anything to go by, these chaps might just be onto something. Musically this is tight, harmonic and well-produced hard rock by the numbers, and don’t limit yourself to single Merry-Go Round (which Planet Rock have been giving some airplay to recently), as there are much better songs on the album with opener Mr Big Shot, anthemic crowd pleaser In It For Love (nice time changes by the way boys) and the thumping Lullaby (which definitely isn’t) being the stand out tracks here,
I certainly can’t fault the album. It’s tight, punchy, danceable accessible rock of the kind that pricked up my ears way back when (and frustratingly referred to as ‘Classic’ rock nowadays), by a UK based band with a 4 track EP already under their belts, and their sights set much higher. It’s not going to be easy for them. This type of music will go down well with anyone who misses that period, but we are all in our 50’s and this stuff needs young blood to propel it forward. That said, they have the chops, and seem to be cutting it on the live circuit, and I haven’t seen it slowing down the likes of Black Stone Cherry down, so this old hack ain’t writing them off just yet. They’ve managed to get some support slots with Skid Row in Europe later in the year, so fingers crossed for you, chaps. 7/10
Silverthorne: Tear The Sky Wide Open (Golden Robot Records) [Matt Bladen]
Well this a real surprise, when I read that this band featured Brian Tichy who has sat behind the stool for Whitesnake, Ozzy, Slash, Billy Idol and Foreigner, I was expecting some Planet Rock NWOCR songwriting, however when it opened up with some Soundgarden worshiping fuzz it was clear this was something a little different. Tichy's expressive drumming on Black River Rising leads the hypnotic bass of Daniel Spree and heavy riffage from Pete Shoulder. If that name is familiar, then you'll probably know it from the band The Union which Shoulder formed with Thunder guitarist Luke Morley during that band's hiatus. This isn't the stripped back blues of The Union, no, Siverthorne sit in the 90's sound, influenced by the sounds of Zep and Free but with a big heaving slab of the aforementioned Soundgarden, with touches of Alice In Chains and even some QOTSA dropped in to shake up Movin. Shoulder shows again why he is such a special talent vocally, his soulful voice carries these songs as they lock together as a watertight three piece. An EP for now but I'd love to hear some more from this band in the very near future. 7/10
I certainly can’t fault the album. It’s tight, punchy, danceable accessible rock of the kind that pricked up my ears way back when (and frustratingly referred to as ‘Classic’ rock nowadays), by a UK based band with a 4 track EP already under their belts, and their sights set much higher. It’s not going to be easy for them. This type of music will go down well with anyone who misses that period, but we are all in our 50’s and this stuff needs young blood to propel it forward. That said, they have the chops, and seem to be cutting it on the live circuit, and I haven’t seen it slowing down the likes of Black Stone Cherry down, so this old hack ain’t writing them off just yet. They’ve managed to get some support slots with Skid Row in Europe later in the year, so fingers crossed for you, chaps. 7/10
Silverthorne: Tear The Sky Wide Open (Golden Robot Records) [Matt Bladen]
Well this a real surprise, when I read that this band featured Brian Tichy who has sat behind the stool for Whitesnake, Ozzy, Slash, Billy Idol and Foreigner, I was expecting some Planet Rock NWOCR songwriting, however when it opened up with some Soundgarden worshiping fuzz it was clear this was something a little different. Tichy's expressive drumming on Black River Rising leads the hypnotic bass of Daniel Spree and heavy riffage from Pete Shoulder. If that name is familiar, then you'll probably know it from the band The Union which Shoulder formed with Thunder guitarist Luke Morley during that band's hiatus. This isn't the stripped back blues of The Union, no, Siverthorne sit in the 90's sound, influenced by the sounds of Zep and Free but with a big heaving slab of the aforementioned Soundgarden, with touches of Alice In Chains and even some QOTSA dropped in to shake up Movin. Shoulder shows again why he is such a special talent vocally, his soulful voice carries these songs as they lock together as a watertight three piece. An EP for now but I'd love to hear some more from this band in the very near future. 7/10
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