a r t i s t : Neptune
t i t l e : Gong Lake
d a t e : 2008
l a b e l : tableoftheelements
g e n r e : Other
r l s. d a t e : Apr/2008
t r a c k s : 10
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 47,8 MB
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Active now for close to 14 years, Boston band Neptune has
crafted not only a formidable array of releases that document
their squalling, post-industrial noise punk, but an awesome
arsenal of home-made instruments they theyÆve used to etch
each and every one of their tracks. Though beginning life as
the extension of a sculpture project by Jason Sanford, the
band has shunned the austerity of art galleries in favor of
cranking out high-octane, oft-visceral exercises in
disruption.
Their discography stretches to around 20 releases, but Gong
Lake, their debut for Table of the ElementsÆ Radium imprint,
is the first to be widely available outside of NeptuneÆs own
merch table. Five full-lengths in now, and the band is nothing
if not tightly wound û no hesitation, no faulty missteps. As
such, Gong Lake presents a solid half an hourÆs worth of the
trioÆs finely detailed improvisations and galloping,
percussive punk, bounding from the queasy loops and pounding
drums of ôGrey Shadowsö to the more carefully considered and
ominous oscillations of ôBlack Tide.ö
While NeptuneÆs penchant for homemade instruments is well
known, they wisely avoid reducing their work-shopped creations
to kitsch levels. Instead, they spend the whole of Gong Lake
blending a number of different homemade synths and effects
boxes with more tradition drums and baritone guitars. The
results are slyly alien, invoking a creeping sense of the
bizarre and unfamiliar thatÆs effortlessly meshed with
exceedingly familiar rock dynamics. Thus, while ôParis Greenö
may start with commonplace guitar strums, it quickly gives way
to the chunky low-end of a synth of unknown provenance, one
that battles for space with a rising tide of screeching
oscillators. Elsewhere, ôYellow Riverö ricochets with the
effected sounds of a mutated thumb piano, opening up spaces
for echoing synths to shoot past the percussionÆs insistent
rhythms.
As much as a seemingly unkempt aggression is NeptuneÆs
hallmark throughout Gong LakeÆs 10 tracks, these three are no
ordinary brutes. Time and again, their dedication to expanding
a familiar rock lexicon with instruments of their own creation
calls to mind the work of folks like This Heat. Much like
those Brits attempted the use the basic palette of punk rock
as a spring board for deeper experimentation, so too does
Neptune work a similar trick, obliterating the familiar
structures of rock and punk with otherworldly timbres and
tones that are wholly of their own design.
(http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4112)
bandsite:
(http://www.neptuneband.com)
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01-Silver Pool [01:33]
02-Grey Shallows [04:25]
03-Paris Green [03:50]
04-Purple Sleep [04:15]
05-Yellow River [04:17]
06-Copper Green [02:38]
07-Blue Grass [03:08]
08-Black Tide [04:23]
09-Red Sea [05:37]
10-Ebbing [00:50]
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34:56 min