Labels: Temporary Residence
Review by: Dan Baker
this was released a while back but when an album this good comes out it MUST be reviewed. and I’m also reviewing it now to coincide with their european tour. check cerberus-shoal.com for details.
when something is so good but in such a metaphysically aspiring and profoundly original way it is really difficult to review using language. it is only then that you realise the limitations of such primitive modes of communication.
but i digress. cerberus shoal have pushed the boundaries of instrumental space rock (with, unlike some bands, an emphasis on the ROCK) to a completely different sphere of musical existence. well, ok, another continent at least, reaching into the depths of asia and stealing their ideas, styles and instruments, and fusing it with western sounds reminiscent of mogwai, tristeza, but to name the obvious. this 52 minute epic contains substantial amounts of noise, some soft, some loud, which is strategically positioned between 4 songs ranging between 7 and 15 minutes long, containing the basic set up of drums, bass and a few guitars weaved with about a million different instruments from bongos, wind-chimes, didgeridoo, trumpet and those things you hear in indian restaurants. they even use an instrument called a musical saw.
i would have to say that, perhaps excluding mogwai’s young team album, that this is the best instrumental indie rock record i have ever heard, and it even has singing in it too sometimes. hmm, does that make any sense?