THE BATS: THE GUILTY OFFICE (2008)
1) Countersign; 2) Crimson
Enemy; 3) Broken Path; 4) Like Water In Your Hands; 5) Castle Lights; 6) Two
Lines; 7) Satellites; 8) Later On That Night; 9) Steppin' Out; 10) The I
Specialist; 11) The Guilty Office; 12) The Orchard.
A little bit more rock-oriented than its
predecessor, as if Scott himself had realized that At The National Grid took things way too far in the rock-a-bye-baby direction. More electric guitar,
louder drums, and even a whole new fast-tempo song (ʽSteppin' Outʼ) ensure that
The Guilty Office does not really intend
to put you in a stupefying trance — it honestly wants you to think of it as a
collection of individual pop-rock songs. With that in mind, let us see how many
autonomous, self-contained, and positively stunning tunes Scott has managed to
come up with this time.
ʽBroken Pathʼ could be one, creating an
atmosphere of moderately deep gloom with its network of clean jangly, dirty
distorted, and wailing psychedelic guitars. ʽTwo Linesʼ could be another, but
not because of any vocal hooks — its main point of attraction is the guitar vs.
strings battle in the coda, a very straightforward one, where baroque chamber atmosphere
is pitted against purple haze and we may want to pick a favorite. ʽSteppin'
Outʼ is not only fast, but brings back the idea of the «Moody Melancholic
Melody» that the lead guitar plays in tandem with the rhythm strum, best
represented on Couchmaster.
And this is pretty much it: even these particular descriptions are piss-poor, and the rest
of the songs is thoroughly undescribable in layman terms. At this point, even
switching from acoustic to electric guitars for volume, sharpness, and energy
considerations does not help — the songs lack distinctiveness and may only be
appreciated for the general style. I have nothing further to say.
Check "The Guilty Office" (CD) on Amazon
Check "The Guilty Office" (MP3) on Amazon
No comments:
Post a Comment