Labels: self released
Review by: Andy Malcolm
I’m all for random CDs arriving in the mail. So long as they are good. And whaddya know, Planquez is good. Well, I like them anyway. There are 3 songs on this EP and it goes on for over 20 minutes! Which might give you some hints as to what they are playing – noodly, repetitious post rock with long build ups. Slint-esque would be understating it. Or I suppose you could talk about bands like Month of Birthdays if you’d rather be more patriotic. And Koyla, because they were so under-rated and I like being wilfully obscure. First track “For the Engineer” builds up very deliberately, gaining in noise and pace, then introducing the spoken word vocals – and in this aspect they are much more like Kolya than Slint in that the vocals are strong and emphatic rather than whispered or tortured. On “‘Here’ Is A Hard Place” they are a lot more subdued, tucked in behind the sombre guitars (very nice). They end on “This is all that we can do for you now…” and it is more of the same. Rhythmical, groovin’, guitars. And it’s all rather fine I tells ya.
Just looking at their website they have been a band for 6 years, have put out a sum total of one record and played a whole 16 gigs! Yep, DIY is the way to go chaps, forget about the labels and stand on your own feet. You’re certainly good enough. This EP was a pleasant surprise – definitely hunt it down if you are at all into that brooding post rock thing. Nice one.