The Scarecrow Frequency - Siqingilaq - Download (2015)

Labels: self released
Review by: Oli Saunders

From the opening of the first track, ‘Soon Erodes’, I knew this was going to be pretty special. Classic repetitive riffs over which John sings in his unique way, this is close to The Scarecrow Frequency being back to its best. I’ve said a lot about TSF before so I won’t dwell too much into that here. I’ll focus on what I like about this album. I love the drums – how simple, yet integral to the music, with a gentle but raw sound, always managing to come up with a distinctive beat. ‘Face Plant’ shows this off, with lovely use of the hi hat. I love the duel guitars playing off one another in a messy but effective way. ‘Sleet’ is a prime example of this, with one guitar strumming and the other using Breastesque (did I really just use that word?) distorted notes. And I love John’s vocals: pretty much indecipherable, but dripping with emotion. I can’t make out what he’s singing about on the last song but it sounds devastating. There is a little unevenness in the album – a couple of the songs don’t do much for me – but overall this is another fine offering from a band that sounds like no other.

30th July 2015