NewMusic First Spin: Lullabye Arkestra
August 25th, 2009
Previously featuring an infinite membership, Toronto’s Lullabye Arkestra took shape after scaling it down to just its original core of drummer Justin Small (also of Do Make Say Think) and bassist Kat Taylor-Small.
But let’s bypass all of the chatter about their minimalistic set-up and just be amazed about the nasty, blood-spewing rock’n’roll that sweats out of these two bodies.
Their 2006 debut album Ampgrave (released on Constellation) took five years to set free, and it didn’t disappoint, as the two married sludgy punk’n’roll with a twisted R&B fever that gave them a unique sound all of their own.
Now signed to VICE Records, a company that certainly knows a thing or two about debauchery and rock’n’roll, Lullabye Arkestra now have a second album. Threats/Worship isn’t a far cry from that depraved, good stuff they discharged on Ampgrave, but that’s the beauty of it.
“Get Nervous” makes its introduction with a metallic blast, followed by a chugging, head-banging rhythm before it settles into its charging groove. Kat then cranks up the fuzz on her bass for “Icy Hands,” the break downs for which shows the chemistry these two have is as much musical as it is marital.
“We F**k the Night” is a song so gnarly that it could only be accompanied by a video where the band’s mosh pit is attacked by flesh-eating zombies (one of whom is local avant-rockabilly dude Slim Twig). The Ark know to shake things up too: “Surviving The Year Of Wolves” revisits the hardcore of Ampgrave’s “Nation of Two,” intensifying the pace and throwing in a break down that fuses gang vocals with what sounds like someone playing the whirly. It’s rad.
Their repertoire deepens even more though. “Fog Machine” kicks into the type of drone that Spacemen 3 would trip out to, “Foating Graveyards” lulls into deep, murky doom metal riffage, and “Sad Sad Story” is no nonsense rhythm and blues that leaves Kat’s vocals naked and on full display to wind down the sweltering blitz of everything prior.
This is heavy, so be ready for it.
Listen to it here
Artist: Lullabye Arkestra
Album:Threats/Worship
Release Date: September 1, 09
Label: Vice Records
Genre: Alternative Rock
Author: Cam Lindsay
First Spin Live Until: August 11, 2009
Track Listing:
- Get Nervous
- Icy Hands
- We F*ck The Night
- Voodoo
- Surviving The Year Of Wolves
- Fog Machine
- Telepathic President
- Euroshima
- This Is A Storm
- Foating Graveyards
- Sad Sad Story
Tags: first spin, Lullabye Arkestra
Posted on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at 3:15 pm by Klye and is filed under Reviews.
