Amps for Christ - The People at Large
(5 Rue Christine)
I have a difficult time writing about something I really like. It worries me that I will fail miserably to portray the album in a worthy way and just because I am an admirer of a band does not necessarily mean that you are. Amps for Christ's Circuits is my favorite record. That said, this new Amps for Christ, The People at Large, is one of the most beautiful and interesting things I've heard this year. It follows more in the line of their 2001 release, The Oak in the Ashes, with it's mix of Scottish traditional airs with distortion running beneath it, electronic noise, poetry readings, Asian inspired ragas and some modern American folk. It's also a good idea to check out the artwork for the recurring symbols.
Amps for Christ evolved from a side project of guitarist Henry Barnes and drummer Connell, both of whom were in Man Is the Bastard. Other players have contributed over the years, most notably Enid Snarb on electronics, Tara Tikki Tavi on Chinese instruments and vocals and Charlie White with poetry. Snarb seems to be absent from this newest release, however, there is a track called "Enids Rant" which consists of various guitars weaving fluidly around each other while the bass swims under them and through to the beat set by the drums.
With twenty-three tracks, it's difficult to choose which to mention because they're all so notable and different. The People at Large begins with this Asian influenced song with Barnes' gentle vocals called "Tsaress". Tara Tikki Tavi's voice on the English folk style air, "Prince Charlie Stuart", soars in a way that would make Linda Thompson envious. On "Freddie The Mockingbird", the electronics try to capture the liquid trilling of the thrush and the insane battering of a woodpecker to the tune of the sitar-like instrument. "AFC Tower Song" is one of my favorite tracks and is basically what I think of when I think of this band. It appears to be an American folk song on the surface, except there is this distorted electric guitar buzzing behind the vocals and the banjo, which becomes an integral part of the sound. This same technique is done again on "Branches", only it's the electronics that whir into the tune. I know a lot of people aren't keen on poetry or spoken word, but the poem "Bug" uses alliteration to give you the sense of a beetle and probably didn't need the clicking electronics. The other poem, "Tethered Ball", uses metaphor to describe learning from failure, or at least, that's what I got out of it.
Maybe the most daunting aspect of this whole experience is that there is so much content and enjoyment to be had in The People at Large? I could've had another week and would have still felt unprepared. Maybe I will have "a moment of realization before the unwinding"?
|
