Happy Halloween! Well, it is? I don’t know anymore…
We don’t usually celebrate such things, however when a release pops up in conjunction with the alleged spookiest day of the calendar year, then what more can you do?
The release? A split single between Dublin’s Le Gateaux Bateaux (also of Irish underground post-rock odyssey, Rollers/Sparkers) and The Last Sound who – for those not yet acquainted – is Barry Murphy, also one half of the withering force that is Whirling Hall Of Knives, who came to our attention earlier this year with their brilliant LP, Blown Vestige (via Cruel Nature Records).
Split singles are a funny thing. With so much time spent listening to albums, it’s actually nice to sometimes escape the norm and revel in a bit of brevity, and here, well… the timing feels essential.
Le Gateaux Bateaux starts us off with A Frizzle in the Letrun. The kind of track that unlocks an array of wild colours that fill the sky. Imagine Sun City Girls after a couple of glasses of LSD-laced fruit punch and you might just get the vibe. Melding motorik krautrock with tribal rhythms and a Northern Lights glow, Le Gateaux Bateaux creates quite the world to get lost in here.
And deep in such realms, we find The Last Sound whose track, Sitting in a Fire, most certainly has the warmth of one. With a catchy synth-like blur that unfurls with a ’60s-inspired psych-pop goodness, Sitting in a Fire provides a lovely foil for A Frizzle in the Letrun.
As an added bonus, Sound Breaking Sky (featuring Whirling Hall Of Knives’ Stephen Gethings, also of Nwyvre and Magnetize) unleashes the hidden track, Hidden Remix Script. A hazy, blissed-out trip deconstructing both of the preceding tracks. Fundamentally, it’s euphoria at quarter speed, sprinkling fairy dust across the vast terrains of this sound world.
Neither evoking the horrors of Halloween nor fully immersed in the world of pop, the psychedelic tapestry woven here creates the kind of warmth that is inspired by both ends of the spectrum. It’s experimentation in every sense, and for fans of these three artists, there’s not a trick amongst them. Just damn fine treats.
LGB///TLS is out now. Purchase from Bandcamp.
Sun 13 