ARTiST: Charlottefield
ALBUM: What Friends Are For
BiTRATE: 199kbps avg
QUALiTY: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 --vbr-new / 44.100Khz
LABEL: Fat Cat Records
GENRE: Indie
SiZE: 48.43 megs
PLAYTiME: 0h 32min 13sec total
RiP DATE: 2007-12-09
STORE DATE: 2008-01-21
Track List:
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01. Beatings 3:48
02. Late Repeat 3:19
03. Wrong On Purpose 2:09
04. Pacifically 4:39
05. Snakes 4:18
06. Broken Bell 4:30
07. Threes 3:42
08. Backwards 5:48
Release Notes:
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CBrighton has long been a burgeoning hub of musical talent and expressionism,
and as well as possessing an electric live scene, it is responsible for a spate
of recent leftfield indie heroes such as Electrelane, The Go! Team and The
Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster. Charlottefield are a razor-sharp, off-kilter,
post-punk, post-hardcore machine who can confirm their status as one of
BrightonÆs best with this release.
After a wave of releases for Unlabel and Jonson Family, the band released æHow
Long Are You StayingÆ on Fat Cat, to much critical acclaim. Hot off the heels of
their æStand UpÆ/ÆCanÆt Stand UpÆ 7ö, they have just released their hotly
anticipated album, æWhat Are Friends ForÆ. Comprising of Thomas House (Vocals,
Guitar), Ashley Marlowe (Drums), Chris Butler (Bass) and Adam Hansford (Guitar)
and utilising a familiar four-piece, dual-guitar, bass, drums and vocals
template, the band carve an epic soundscape of drunken, electric melodies and
pounding, rhythmically complex percussion over HouseÆs varied and energetic
rasps and yelps. Similar in vein to a high-tempo, melodious æShellacÆ with a bee
in their bonnet or a more direct and focused Get Hustle, Charlottefield let rip
over the 8 track, 32 minute album, wearing their influences on their sleeve but
never getting sucked into the murky depths of plagiarism.
Opening with the stomping æBeatingsÆ, the band proceed to lay down nasal,
out-of-focus vocal rasps over a soundscape of off-kilter guitar cycles, spazzy
bass and clattering percussion, the latter of which provides an
attention-grabbing and rather rousing backbone. On the follow-up, æLate RepeatÆ,
House sounds so close to Porcupine Tree vocalist Steve Wilson its untrue. The
result is great and comes across as Porcupine Tree playing doom-laden post-punk
whilst in a drunken stupor. æWrong On PurposeÆ follows a similar theme with its
slowed down, drugged-out tempo and its unsteady, disorientated, crashing waves
of angular, electric, guitar melodies which are engaged in battle with mathcore
influenced percussive licks and tortured screamo vocals.Track 4, æPacificallyÆ
is the definite stand-out track on the album with the band sounding more united
than ever and moving rapidly through a propulsive and progressive math-punk
soundscape complete with barking classic-hxc vocals. The package brings to mind
mathrockers Dysrhythmia jamming with Fugazi, and the last 40 seconds sees a
frenzy of melodic guitars and tight percussion uniting in angular disharmony to
provide an outro that sounds like Gordian KnotÆs finest played at 45rpm.
Although Charlottefield prove to be up-and-coming purveyors of angular,
off-kilter post-hardcore experimentalism, their songs are always guided by a
keen sense of melody and exist in a synergeous framework which sees a constantly
shifting dialogue between band members. æBroken BellsÆ is an example of
Charlottefield toning things down to create what must be their most emotive and
poignant track. Slowed down, heartfelt and decipherable vocals touch-base with
huge, groove-laden guitar and bass swirls and engaging percussion to create a
cordial soundtrack to reminiscing about the glory days of the Chicago-school of
leftfield rock.
æThreesÆ is brimming with an electric and molten aesthetic, mainly due to its
beefy production values. Featuring an onslaught of clustered, doom-laden
post-rock drumwork and kraut-ish guitar melodies which are dripping with a
thick, melancholic goo, the band carve an epic and almost psychedelic soundscape
for HouseÆs tortured vocals. Like a slowed down Cult of Luna engaged in warfare
with Year Future, at a Cat On Form concert, the sound unconsciously sucks you in
and will undoubtedly result in your neck bobbing frantically. On the closer,
æBackwardsÆ the bandÆs heavy math-rock aesthetic rises to fore once again with
its frenzied and cleverly intertwined guitar melodies and its gigantic wall of
percussion providing a stirring background to the sharp tongued screamo barks of
Thomas House.
I might have namedropped a large number of bands but the artists mentioned
occupy the upper-echelons of experimental rock and cover a vast terrain of
musical style. This in itself is a great tribute to the sound and talent of
Charlottefield, but the fact that they can take all these styles and carve a
soundscape that is very much their own is something that is way more impressive.
The bands ability to play off each other and create an undeniable sense of
energy and emotion whilst achieving real synergy is another plaudit which cannot
be stressed enough. Overall, æWhat Are Friends ForÆ welcomes 2008 in with a
rasping, high-octane soundtrack and proves that Brighton is still the place to
be for fresh talent.
Enjoy!