Amazed was I-and slightly aghast- that ‘Low Signal’ (at the
time of writing) appear to be but one lone ranger; a Matthew Gasparic, from
London, according to the info on their Sound Cloud page. I was also mightily impressed,
considering the full racket that ‘Low Signal’ makes!
When I first wrapped my listening gear around ‘Low Signal’s’
tracks on Sound Cloud, I closed my eyes and could almost visualise the band; how
each member looked, acted, played their instrument, jammed with the rest of the
gang, on stage; I could smell the chemistry between them, down to the sweaty
towel wrapped around the drummers shoulders- everything! A whole rock and roll
circus flashed into my mind, rather than the image of a sole musician, huddled in
front of his computer with a small arsenal of instruments close at hand.
Hearing the two
compositions on Sound Cloud, ’I wanna rock you’ and ’ Inner senses’, it is clear that ‘Low Signal’ make good,
solid, no nonsense, well-constructed indie rock .No (apparent) sampling of
cement mixers, or experimental twists on the dub step genre, make up the
portfolio then-at least, not on the two tracks here.
What shines
through, though, is that this is clearly a sound that comes from someone who is
not only very talented, but loves music- probably to beyond the point of
obsession.
Another element, that captivates me slightly more than
anything else about the music, though, is Gasparic’s voice; the sound and
manner of which isn’t too dissimilar to that of ‘Primal Scream’s’ Bobby
Gillespie.
Of the tracks I
have heard, there is something wonderfully uncomfortable about how the
elegantly wasted sounding vocals snake their way across rhythmic guitar lines, and
between (guitar) solo wig outs, which all saunter above tight rolling bass and
drums, (but mainly in the last third of the songs, with regards to the wig outs,
that bring each composition to an almost anthemic close).
The lyrics
themselves are, to me, slightly offbeat, slightly catchy, slightly poppy- and slightly
throw away. Far more random than directly literal, they seem to have been crafted
to fit abreast the music, rather than the other way round-and, coupled with the
vocal deliverance, work well with the tuneful whole, to do what, in my mind,
good music does best-which is to ignite the cerebral cortex with atmospheric
imagery and feeling, as your ear holes hoover up the
whole sonic plethora!
Ultimately, listening to this band makes me wanna skive off work
for a couple of days, meet up with me mates, get exceedingly drunk, smoke fags
and stand around in a hip pair of shades aiming to look like I'm drop dead cool
- trying to impress girls, and getting kicked out of indie clubs for dancing
like The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from ‘Ghostbusters’, convinced that I’m
guitar music’s answer to John Travolta.
Surprisingly,
this project currently seems like a really low key affair. At the moment, ‘Low
Signal’ have less than a handful of followers on Sound Cloud- and, unless I’m
mistaken, scant exposure anywhere else!
This is all a bit of a travesty, really, and begs for a few
hungry questions to be readily answered. Is there an EP? Is there an album? Has Mr Gasparic
constructed an exciting live band-or is he going to get one together to play
live with? If so, are they gigging-and where?
In short, ‘Low Signal’- I want to hear more!-and in spades,
now that I’ve heartily consumed a fill of the two tantalising scoops currently
on offer!
Review by Sam Slattery
Check out Low Signal
No comments:
Post a Comment