Search - Shriekback :: Cormorant

Barry Andrews/Shriekback's "Commorant"_ EXCITINGLY Blows Off

C. P. Wilson | Seattle, WA United States | 04/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...and it just keeps getting better and better the more you listen to it. Wow! WoW!! WOW!!! BEST ALBUM BY SHRIEKBACK IN YEARS!!! (Best/most groundbreaking album I have heard in years period) Barry Andrews-after all these years-you are at your PEAK here!!! and lucky for all of us your son Finn Andrews seems to have inherited your talents/proclivities which combined together are AMAZING!!!! (I hope to see future collaborations from you both)...this is one of the few bands I can say that there is very little to dislike AND A HELL OF ALOT TO LOVE over the years-truly one of the most excitingly original bands you will ever hear and (personally) one of my alltime favorites-but I have to give it to them-this album 'CORMORANT'REALLY ROCKS!!!...CRACKS THE ICE, GETS THE JAM, and TRULY BUSTS DOWN ALL THE DOORS!!!..and then even KEEPS GOING UP&UP&UP from there!!!)



I have been a Shriekback fan since I was a young teenager in the early 80's (Coming into musical consciousness somewhere around the time of the incredible vinyl album release, "JAM SCIENCE" in 1982 (along with subsequent OIL & GOLD, Jam Science still my favorite album to date if I had to say). I very much got into the sounds of XTC and Gang of Four (Shriekback was the progeny of these bands)-but I believe were TRULY SURPASSED, PERFECTED, GIVEN THEIR MOST TRANSCENDANT & DISTURBINGLY MOVING VOICE in the ethereal sounds, hauntingly dark/soulful (ultimately electrically innervating)deep rich voice of Barry Andrews (he makes the hairs on your arm stand up-most incredible/original voice ever-has not changed or weakened AT ALL over the years), wonderful counterpoint and unity with (certain tracks where) soul-sister enhancing back-up vocals that come into play at the chorus refrains, and unparalleled really funky bass-guitar rifts carried over from Gang of Four's Dave Allen-a tradition maintained and yet transcended throughout Comorant...



...In this album, there is the addition of more recent sounds that have seeped up into the new millenium: that i.e., draw on an ambient-grooved deep base, drum-and-base, techno (infused throughout THOUGH very softly-and subsequently INSIDIOUSLY CREEP in to fill/enrich the spaces between the notes-without ever overwhelming that wonderful defining "Shriek" sound cut up by Andrews voice & jagged bass rift edginess that really defines Shriekbacks wonderfully unique style that makes them really, Really, REALLY different from anything else you've ever heard! The exceedingly intelligent lyrics and WONDERFUL WORDPLAY CONTINUE HERE...those who remember the song Nemesis from the Oil and Gold album, "Big black nemesis,parthenogenesis-No one move a muscle as the dead come home" will not be disaapointed with (amongst others) the wonderful track "Voiled Karletus" which snappily reels out a NY Times Crossword Puzzle-enhancing vocabulary, "the righteous goons, check out their runes as they caper with a taper to some acid tunes...the savage toys the lord employs make 'em snivel as they swivel like an anglepoise"...



...then on the other side of the spectrum is the incredibly ethereal/trance-like/emotionally/spiritually moving base & bass-driven TIMELESS tracks like Sea Theory, Waterboys, and The Strongest Wind That Blows, True Passage (probably my favorite tracks on this cd)..along with the song "TROUBLEMEAT" which gets me to really crank up the volume and ejects me off my arse, sends me to the floor dancing every time!!! (so does Load The Boat,Bonehead, and Voiled Karletus)Without sounding like overinflated pretentious crap, Have you ever heard of intellectual dance music? Is that even possible?...YES!!!...SHRIEKBACK BRIDGES THAT GAP!!!...



TRUST ME!!! This CD will satisfy/ultimately overcome every crack, crevice, and caveat of the deepest recesses in your soul. BUY IT!!! (Better yet become a "Shriek Freak" and buy all their past albums too...you won't be disappointed..this will be the band you and your friends remember/still affects you 20-30 years down the road!!!)"

"Did you ever get an invitation, a little window to another

T. A. Evans | Duncan, SC USA | 11/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first lines of "Sea Theory," the second track on this instant classic, gently persuades the listener to allow themselves the luxury of total immersion in the dark waters of Shriekback.



Years after those in tune with the genius of Shriekback had resigned themselves to never experiencing the band's unique sound and vision again, Barry Andrews re-emerges with a profound brilliance that draws from and even outshines many of Shriekback's previous releases.



The overall vibe of the album is the band's signature exploration of the dark and unseen. There's a hint of mourning in some of the tracks, like "Waterbaby," and a vicious humour that rides shotgun on songs like "Voiled Karletus" and "Bonehead."



Barry Andrews deftly marries the dreamy atmosphere to driving techno rhythms, all the while teasing the listener with intelligent wordplay and nuggets of contemplation. He's assisted by longtime Shriek percussionist Martyn Barker, along with fellow XTC mate Andy Partridge and his son Finn Andrews of The Veils fame. The result is a culmination of everything that made Shriekback so dearly loved by people worldwide, graced with incredible maturity without losing one iota of the experimental gusto Shriek fans have come to expect from Mr. Andrews.



There are songs on this album that will not only appeal to the seasoned Shriekback fan, but will also bring new listeners into Shriek circles and please fans of Goth, Industrial, Techno, etcetera. Basically, anyone who enjoys wonderful, thought-provoking music that you can tap your toes along with the beat can't go wrong with purchasing this completely enjoyable CD.



If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would!"

Back into the deep, dark waters for Shriek fans

Bes Pantheos | 11/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Holy God. This is a true monster of a record. Admittedly, I have a pretty strong bias, as Shriekback have consistently remained one of my favorite musical phenomena since I was 15, listening to 'Nemesis' in teeny-bopper goth clubs back in Dallas in the early 90's and marvelling at how the Roman-esque grandeur of the video had transformed into the bizarre, ritualized gesticulations that inevitably accompanied each and every chorus of this song on the dancefloor... But I digress...



'Cormorant' is one of those rare albums that goes from strength to strength, getting better and better throughout and with every listen, with not a single weak track to be found anywhere. If you are a fan of older Shriekback, let me assure you: this album will utterly and completely blow your mind. I don't care if your favorite tracks come from Oil & Gold, Big Night Music, Sacred City, Jam Science, or Tench... you *will* find freakish amounts of sonic and lyric joy on this album, all thoroughly steeped in the underwater, aural miasma that you've come to associate with Shriekback through the years.



That being said, this is *not* just a simple re-hash of old Shriekback sounds and song structures. This album is as fresh and shiny and fundamentally *new* as the waves that break at high tide on the ivory shores of whatever beautiful stretch of coastline Barry Andrews draws his inspiration from.



I won't go into a song-by-song breakdown, outlining in linear fashion just why Shriekback deserves your money for this record- other reviewers have done that admirably enough. However, I will tell you this: 'Voiled Karletus' will make you dance in frenzied ecstasy like a devotee of Demeter celebrating the rites of Eleusis. It is savage and beautiful- sinister, classic Shriek execution, yet weirdly tied to the socio-political landscape of the modern world. If you are one of the lucky few who recognize 'Hammerheads' as one of God's greatest gifts, you will buy Cormorant for this song alone. Comparable numbers include 'Bonehead' and the art-funk laden guitar stomp of 'Troublemeat' (six-string mayhem courtesy of old XTC compatriot Andy Partridge!). On the other end of the spectrum, you have the slower songs such as 'Waterbaby' and 'Sea Theory'. The sounds employed in these numbers wash over you like a wave, layered with all the infinite complexity of a Mandelbrot set and penetrated throughout with the mind-bending lyrical genius that is Barry Andrews. Lots of folks will tell you that Andrew Eldritch or Nick Cave are the pre-eminent wordsmiths in darker rock music. There is considerable supporting evidence to back up such a claim. On the other hand, those same folks would benefit greatly from a few hours wrapped in the skin of Barry Andrews and his staggering brand of lyrical genius. The album's narrative remains throughout subtle, brilliant, caustic, vulgar, infammatory, hilarious, and absolutely unique. Andrews strings together polysyllabic couplets that make Greg Graffin sound like a rank amateur. In fact, I defy you to find any other song in the history of mankind to actually create a rhyme from the word "pessary." It's just too out of left field, yet so undeniably *Shriekback.*



Of course, at the end of the day, I can only relate my opinions and experiences, which must be received with all due caution and consumer skepticism. Given that caveat, I tell you, dear reader: buy this record, add a few dozen new wrinkles to your telencephalic landscape, and thank the shiny, reptilian gods that Barry Andrews and co. are still writing songs of this caliber for the unwashed masses. Hallelujah."