Album Reviews: Crisis Arm- Caterwaul and Machinefabriek & Banabila- Travelog
Crisis Arm happened on my radar thanks to Family Time
Records, and more specifically, my recent acquisition of the 4-way split 7”that I wrote a piece on last week. I saw the word “shoegaze” in the write up
about their new cassette, Caterwaul,
and from there I was like, “oh damn I need to cop this right away.”
Blending elements of shoegaze (obviously), fuzzed out pop,
experimentalism, and sloppy, abrasive post-punk, Caterwaul is an incredibly impressive full-length release, although
all of the genre-bending causes it to be a tad uneven at times.
The heavy fuzz that runs throughout the course of the album
is very reminiscent of the DIY Canadian noise-pop outfit Tearjerker. Frontwoman
Cameron Puleo’s vocals are obviously pushed down low in the mix, delivered in a
ghostly monotone that adds a layer of intrigue and mystery. While some songs
are a little inaccessible to a casual listen, there are still flickers of pop
sensibility—primarily on the first side, with “Follow” and “Late.”
Crisis arm is still a relatively young band—Caterwaul is their first full length,
following the Junk Drawer EP from
last year. They’ve grown quite a bit since then—sculpting the pretty singularly
heavy post-punk sound into what you hear now. Hopefully as a band they aren’t
finished growing—this cassette shows a lot of potential.
Caterwaul is available now as a limited edition cassette via Family Time, or as a digital download from the band.
When I saw that the opening track was called “Spin ‘n Puke,”
I knew I was in for a good time.
I believe this is the third time I’ve repped Machinefabriek
on the blog—the project of Netherland’s based artist Rutger Zuydervelt. Rutger
holla’d at me personally very early on in the year and asked if I’d take a
listen to the self-titled collaborative release between himself and like-minded
artist Michel Banabila—the result, an interesting, exquisite corpse structured
sound collage through the deepest regions of experimental/drone music.
Much to my surprise, I got an email a while back with
information about another Machinefabriek & Banabila collaborative joint—Travelog.
The press release for Travelog
indicates that it’s lighter and even “playful” in comparison to their previous
effort. Once “Spin ‘n Puke” gets going—you’ll agree. The rhythmic
world-influenced percussion and handclaps can hypnotize you while synth tones
and various other glitches swirl in over the top of everything else.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that Travelog is more “listener friendly.” There are plenty of moments
of harsh noise and ambience; it’s just that a bulk of this material leans more
towards sounding like it was at least partially constructed beforehand, rather
than an improvisation. The incredible urgency of a track like “Runner” is a
great example of how that kind of execution succeeds.
Electronic music is the kind of field that has no
boundaries—you can use technology to move people to a dope beat, or to scare
the ever-loving shit out them with horrifying sounds. Travelog walks the fine line between those two extremes, and it
continues to show that the collaborative partnership between Michel Banabila
and Rutger Zuydervelt has no shortage of ideas.