Rolling Stone Australia — July 2017

Tailing a yearlong sabbatical in Berlin,

Punchbuzzmarks a sonic expansion for

Husky Gawenda and keyboardist Gideon

Preiss.Whilethetexturedjangles,ethereal

chillandlushfolk-rocktapestriesofForev-

er So(2011) andRuckers Hill(2014) remain, the challenge

hereisdisentanglingthemfromsomanyfluting,spiking,

tumbling synths.

Husky are just one of countless folk-rock acts to veer

into the synth-pop wilderness. But for every likeable about-

face – see Sweet Jean’sMonday to Friday(2016) – there’s a

flawedexperimentthatprovesstyleisapttosmothersub-

stance–asinthePaperKites’twelvefour(2015). Much like

the latter album,Punchbuzzisa10-trackmeditationon

stayinguplate.WhilevisitingdrummerArronLightand

bassistJulesPascoegroundproceedingssolidly,Gawenda’s

songwriting founders amid the album’s decided busyness.

There’s plenty of bustling urgency in “Shark Fin”, yet

Gawenda’slyricsseemalmostincidentalbycontrast–in

keeping with its vaulted, cavernous quality, “Punchbuzz”,

too,ringsstrangelyhollow.Leadsingle“LateNightStore”

is the album’s strongest entry – if largely for the phrase “the

soft machinery of your heart”.

The album’s back-end is tellingly confounding. While

theicy“CracksinthePavement”drawswinninglyon

pastoral folk and glacial closer “Spaces Between Heart-

beats” could be a lost, lyrical Vangelis theme, the engag-

ing strangeness of “Flower Drum” is buried beneath cas-

cading keys. GARETH HIPWELL

Royal Blood

HowDidWeGetSoDark?

Warner★★★

Solid if more-of-the-same

second outing for UK duo

The seismic grooves of Royal

Blood’sdebutLPsetthemapart

in2014,notonlyduetotheir

line-up–atwo-piecerockband

featuringbassanddrums–but

because they breathed life into

rock’s quickly cooling corpse.

Butwherethatalbumbenefit-

ed from their sonic limitations

–thankslargelytobassist/vo-

calistMikeKerr’sarrayofef-

fects pedals – its follow-up isn’t

quitesofortunate,comingoffas

afacsimileofthatrecordrather

thanafreshnewstatement.The

riffs are still big (“Don’t Tell”),

the hooks insistent (“I Only Lie

WhenILoveYou”),butwhile

thereareafewnewtricks–the

keysin“HoleInYourHeart”–

they’re subtle at best. ROD YATES

Big Thief

CapacitySpunk★★★

Brooklyn indie-folk band spread

further on sophomore LP

There’snoshortageofcre-

ative curveballs on Big Thief’s

second effort. The unfurling

transformation of “Coma” from

demo to all-absorbing hypno-

sis;theloopedbanjosof“Ob-

ject”; the sparseness of Gael-

ic sermon “Mary”; the sharp

shift between bright pop mo-

mentum on “Shark Smile” and

the heavy-plods of chaser “Ca-

pacity”. However, it feels more

competitivethancomplimen-

tary,servingasanobleattempt

to counterweight the looming

presence of vocalist Adrianne

Lenker.Herastuteobservations

and harrowing hushed delivery

remainaconstantcentrepiece,

striking such prominence that

the songs end up sounding quite

similar. JONNY NAIL

Anathema

The Optimist

KScope★★★★

British progsters show no signs

ofslowingon11thalbum

Since forming in 1990, Liver-

pool sextet Anathema have pro-

gressedfromdeathmetalactto

a post-progressive group that

dealinthesamesortofgrand,

gorgeous sonic landscapes as

latter-dayMarillion.Their11th

album has a loose thematic tie

to 2001’sAFineDayToExit,

exploring what happened to

thecharacterwhodisappeared

on that record. The album is at

itsmostaffectinginitssweep-

ing, piano-based moments, vo-

calist Lee Douglas’s voice soar-

ing (“Endless Ways”), and sees

themincorporatingelementsof

electronica and even jazz-noir

into the film score-like compo-

sitions.Anathema’srestlesscre-

ative urges remain intact. R.Y.

Pete Murray

CamachoSony★★★

First album in six years from

Byron singer-songwriter

AglanceatthepeoplePeteMur-

rayhasworkedwithonhissixth

album–Trials(A.BOriginal),

producers Tony Buchen (Mon-

taigne) and One Above (Hilltop

Hoods)–mightsuggestadras-

ticsonicchangefromtheByron

singer-songwriter.Camacho

isn’tthatbigaleft-turn,though

there are production tweaks

onsongslike“Connected”that

until now wouldn’t have been

associatedwithMurray’scruisy

vocal croon.Camachois at its

best when Murray throws in

a few surprises – see the tasty

horns in “Give Me Your Love” –

but such moments are more the

exception than the rule. Still,

Camachois reliable and solid,

which has always worked just

fine for Murray. SIMON JONES

HuskyPunchbuzzLiberation★★★

Husky’s

Sonic Twist

Melbourne folk-rock duo take a synth-pop

turn with hit and miss third album

July, 2017

Reviews

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