Constellation
What on earth could Lungbutter be? It sounds most unappealing. It kind of sounds oozy and uncomfortable, and I am not sure that describes this Montreal trio all that well — but on the other hand, there are elements that are oozy and some of Ky Brooks‘ rambling doesn’t sit comfortably in the musical uproar that Joni Sadler and Kaity Zozula produce. It is a unique sound which has apparently taken six years to arrive. (Some of the songs date back to 2013). Somehow, through the use of just guitar, drums and voice, they have managed to re-invent the idea of the power trio again.
Opener “Honey” is blustering and overblown, and the guitar staggers drunkenly around a few chords before a histrionic wake-up call introduces the muffled drums that seem to take up so much space. Over these sticky layers Ky, delivers low off-kilter thoughts: “I was taking a lot of baths around that time”, before the whole thing grinds to an abrupt halt and the next rack lurches into life, ploughing a similar furrow and constructing a blistering backdrop with all frequencies covered. Here, the thoughts are positive as Ky muses “Let’s make it better for one another” and concluding that all animals return to the Earth anyway. Again, it ends abruptly, as if the band grows tired of the song and just wishes to move on.
It isn’t all the same old tempo though. “Vile” is slower and much longer, and the guitars seem to sizzle and steam, then gradually descend into chaotic feedback before the song ups a gear and canters off into the sunset; whereas “Bravo” has more of a garage feel that tumbles along like The Cramps or something. I wonder how it all comes together. The songs sound fully formed and then Ky just rambles over the top, splashing words around like wallpaper paste over a particularly virulent strain of wallpaper. The riffing is intense at times, and I can imagine it must be deafening live. Everyone seems to lose their cool on “Henry Darger”, which makes for a satisfying cacophony, while “Intrinsic” is much more thoughtful and quieter. There are no drums at the start, just the blustery guitar circling with deep repetitive riffs suiting the mantra-like vocals; but if the songs hang around for too long, the band can’t seem to help themselves from tinkering and sending them in a new trajectory as they do here, expanding and changing from sludgy to hysterical. Honey is a rather irresistible album though. The lyrics are really enjoyable (“I like distressed surfaces / I like choosing things”), and the band are happy to descend into a vocal-less limbo if that is what is needed and Lungbutter aren’t afraid of ear-shredding volume if necessary.The final two tracks merge into one another, I think, and the segue is an enormous splurge of atonal guitar rather like that section in the third Don Caballero album where the sound of an angle-grinder appears. You can imagine that Joni and Ky just wander off and allow Kaity to shake it out of her system. This excoriating guitar then leads into the final piece, where Ky’s vocals are at their most meandering and rudderless, but jostled by the tightness of the rhythms behind — and then it is all over. Eleven tracks in thirty-three minutes that are pretty outrageous in their audacity, but the charm with which it is delivered is winning.
Let’s hope it isn’t another five years before the next album. I am intrigued to see what else Lungbutter have up their sleeves.-Mr Olivetti-
