Elbury

The Great & The Terrible is the latest LP from Brisbane’s Cedarsmoke, and my first foray into what would appear to be quite a remarkable catalogue.  I’ve been dipping into the album here and there for the past couple of months but was prompted to complete this review by the release this week of a couple of extra tracks from the album sessions. A very welcome encore.

It’s the lyrical ambition of The Great & the Terrible that struck me on first listen. The twelve tracks are brimming with wry contradictions, quips and insights – all concise, precise and poetic. After a dozen listens, I’m still discovering hidden gems, both humorously modern (“I’m the Sisyphus of emails”) and timelessly touching (“A life short enough to savour every breath”).

Track one For Real captures desperation and longing. A call to get out and live your life, because a claustrophobic Heaven (a “padded room with fish oil on a plastic spoon”) may be the only thing waiting at the end. This thread of jaded religious imagery runs through a lot of the album, giving a cynical tone to the heavier themes of death, running out of time and not being ready yet.

Musically, the driving, high-register piano line pays respectful homage to Springsteen’s Thunder Road (which I love) and a subtle double-track vocal lifts the chorus in an otherwise unadorned arrangement that keeps the focus rightly on the storytelling. A great opener.

Contrasting with the darker themes, a love story is threaded through the album, bringing in levity and humour and providing some warm moments. The loping, country-tinged Oil & Water introduces the fateful Marianne as a turbulent presence, while the perfect alt-folk gem Strangely Familiar hints at the deja-vu of old love rekindled. Special lyrical mention in this category to Goodnight Marianne, with an entire verse unexpectedly devoted to an emergency birth in the back of a hearse!

Through light and dark moments, the music moves with the mood, touching on various genres and styles with a confident hand. A couple of alt-country numbers (Ready To Go and Oil & Water) give way to the heart-aching folk tune Amy at 13, before the energetic guitar rocker Know Your Mine breaks out in glorious fashion! It’s another definite favourite for me – a little like This Life by Vampire Weekend. Between moods and songs, the transitions are effortless – smoothly tied together with Jon Cloumassis’ natural, articulate vocal. Guitar and piano songs are reinforced with occasional rock organ and glockenspiel, adding texture and variety but, to my ear, this is a singer-songwriter album, with the focus on lyrics and melody rather than expansive arrangement.

I feel like I am still missing the main theme behind the “Wizard of Oz” cover and lyrical references. A journey, a deceptive destination? Maybe just plain nostalgia? With lighter and darker themes, whether the message is ultimately optimistic or negative probably depends on the listener. Time marches on – so get out there and live!

Pick up The Great & The Terrible on Bandcamp (while Bandcamp still exists!) or stream it in all the usual spots.

Mod Cons is the debut album from Brisbane newcomers trio Fidel A Go Go. It’s a seven-track tour de force – equal parts hard rock and math-prog, down-tuned to a menacing roar. Three djentalmen giving it their all!

** edit – since writing the below, I have realised that the track order on Bandcamp is different to Spotify, which means references to track position (e.g. “opener Turbostein…”) may be incorrect **

Opener Turbostein is a counting exercise for masochists, should you be foolish enough try to decode it, or otherwise a fun experience in wrong-footed head-banging! Triplets over straight fours, short bars, shorter bars, heavy accents drop like bombs! The rhythmic intensity builds over a steady tempo and it’s done.  Super solid introduction to the band and a showpiece for drummer Toby Aitken.

Turbostein is one of two instrumental tracks, along with Track 5 (Speechless – geddit?!) and these two are definite standouts for us. The complex interplay of guitars, drums and bass is more than enough substance for each song, and the presence of a vocal in either would undoubtedly shift the focus away from these elements, which would be a shame.

When the vocals do turn up (Track 2 – Holiday Special), they take the spotlight. Duncan Beale wields a light, agile tenor over a bluesy guitar/bass groove in the verses, switching effortlessly to a harsher, more aggressive tone for the chorus. His voice breaks up with ease, introducing a rough edge, bringing a classic 90s tone to mind (Alice in Chains!). This is a definite favourite, swinging from light to heavy between verse and chorus, and wedging a killer guitar solo into the end of the middle section. It’s first rate – eminently shareable and will undoubtedly attract attention on radio, playlists and podcasts.

Final track Fadings again sets up a relentless dark groove, combining insistent guitar lines with a drawn-out, reverb-soaked vocal. The middle section is a perfectly-timed shelter from the storm – the arrangement is stripped back to a filtered guitar paired with a sustained lead line and layered vocal harmonies, finally giving way to Knights of Cydonia-style guitar arpeggios (or is it JS Bach?!). I’m not sure who is playing what here (Beale or fellow guitarist Nigel Bishop), but both parts are accomplished and expressive, and the combined result is mesmerising.  This is a great section, showing the range that the band can access, balancing out the brashness in tracks at the harder end of the spectrum (Bottle Rocket, White Water).

All in all, a remarkable debut but the depth of experience in this band is far beyond “first album” stage. The group take diverse influences and combine them into a unique sound, with the songwriting and performance skills to hold it all together. Stream it in all the usual places or, better yet, buy a copy on Bandcamp and provide the band with a year’s worth of streaming revenue in one go (and nothing for Applefy!). Catch them at Banshee’s (Ipswich) next Saturday 18 June.