Labels: The Static Cult
Review by: Oli Saunders
There I was awaiting the upcoming Parton Kooper Planetarium LP, recorded but yet to be released, when this unexpected offering from Breasts suddenly popped up out of nowhere. The Static Cult label is embracing the digital revolution and has been releasing a lot of new music recently. It is a shame that a fair few of their recent releases have not been given a limited physical release too, but I fully appreciate that such things take up more time than you think they will. And when instead you could be sitting around making experimental slowcore / indie rock let’s be honest, there’s only one winner.
Breasts continue their assault into weirdness with these fourteen songs, which I have just found out are their final recordings. And in the nicest possible way, not a lot really happens. The instruments, of which there are a wide variety, play away and just about get your head nodding, but it makes me think you need to be stoned to fully appreciate what’s going on. It’s kind of like the depressing indie rock equivalent of chillout dance music. There are vocals on a few of the tracks, some male and some female, and these are by far my favourites. ‘Sacred Harvest’ is a standout but, despite starting promisingly, even this drifts away from the listener over its five-minute span. The last song is ten minutes and seems to be an attempt to test even the most determined listener on whether they can make it to the end.
Overall this doesn’t make the grade compared to some of the other amazing releases put out by this label, but it at least compliments them to some extent. I’m glad some people pushed the boundaries of this genre to the limit and in a way, despite my criticisms, I did actually enjoy listening to this.
15th September 2011