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Charcoal:
Flowers in the Cement
Throwing Charcoals new release Flowers in the Cement into your compact disc player will reward you almost immediately. That is, if you like somewhat gloomy rock and roll that drives along with a serious mood and a heavy sense of purpose. These well-crafted songs here remind me of a number of bands I could name-drop, the most obvious being Interpol who are themselves the kings of this-band-sounds-like-that-band comparisons in the music press. Nevertheless, I like this release by Charcoal, because it is very well-produced and performed to bring a certain affect out on the record. This album is great at building musical tensions. Frida, for example, has some finger-picked guitar and some icy cold percussion that gives everything a bit of a hollow feel. Then the vocals add a bit of eerie dialogue, and strange background voices creep in melodically during parts of the song. Everything feels so uneasy, and I really like singer Fabio Brienzas vocals. You hear the Interpol and Joy Division sound, but you can catch other displays reminiscent of a Tim Buckley if you listen very carefully, though these examples are a bit rare. In the song Dogs Unleashed, we get some driving music that matches with some interesting lyrics. Some are guilty of greed but walk free wearing gold, others are burning dovesin the dumpsters, hardened criminals, television stars they define our justice. In general, this guy has a lot more to say than most artists, and his open-ended lyrical style complements the dark and mysterious music quite well. Dogs Unleashed has no real verse or chorus structure to it; its just a series of lyrics stamped down over the heavy guitar before things quiet down and twist into a mild reverb and electronic interlude, right before the vocals kick in with a new form of distortion overlying a bit of a jungle beat. As weird as that probably sounds in print, Charcoal pulls it off very smoothly and succeed in stamping this song with more than their own share of creativity. This is a quality release, and fans of Interpol will probably like this as much or better than an album like Turn on the Bright Lights. I hate ending the review with that comparison, because there is so much going on in the multi-instrumental production here that makes Charcoals album potentially more intriguing than Interpols, but the mood of these two albums is so similar, I cant imagine someone that would like one band and not the other. Unless of course Interpol lyrics such as, She cant read, She cant read, She cant read, She cant read, Shes Bad, turn you off. If so, I bet youll find Charcoals lyrics a bit more interesting.
This album can be purchased at the Charcoal Official Website About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
