CBrighton
has long been a burgeoning hub of musical talent and expressionism,
and as well as possessing an electric live scene, it is responsible
for a spate of recent leftfield indie heroes such as Electrelane,
The Go! Team and The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster. Charlottefield
are a razor-sharp, off-kilter, post-punk, post-hardcore machine
who can confirm their status as one of Brighton’s best with
this release.
After a wave of releases for Unlabel and Jonson Family, the band
released ‘How Long Are You Staying’ on Fat Cat, to
much critical acclaim. Hot off the heels of their ‘Stand
Up’/’Can’t Stand Up’ 7”, they have
just released their hotly anticipated album, ‘What Are Friends
For’. Comprising of Thomas House (Vocals, Guitar), Ashley
Marlowe (Drums), Chris Butler (Bass) and Adam Hansford (Guitar)
and utilising a familiar four-piece, dual-guitar, bass, drums
and vocals template, the band carve an epic soundscape of drunken,
electric melodies and pounding, rhythmically complex percussion
over House’s varied and energetic rasps and yelps. Similar
in vein to a high-tempo, melodious ‘Shellac’ with
a bee in their bonnet or a more direct and focused Get Hustle,
Charlottefield let rip over the 8 track, 32 minute album, wearing
their influences on their sleeve but never getting sucked into
the murky depths of plagiarism.
Opening with the stomping ‘Beatings’, the band proceed
to lay down nasal, out-of-focus vocal rasps over a soundscape
of off-kilter guitar cycles, spazzy bass and clattering percussion,
the latter of which provides an attention-grabbing and rather
rousing backbone. On the follow-up, ‘Late Repeat’,
House sounds so close to Porcupine Tree vocalist Steve Wilson
its untrue. The result is great and comes across as Porcupine
Tree playing doom-laden post-punk whilst in a drunken stupor.
‘Wrong On Purpose’ follows a similar theme with its
slowed down, drugged-out tempo and its unsteady, disorientated,
crashing waves of angular, electric, guitar melodies which are
engaged in battle with mathcore influenced percussive licks and
tortured screamo vocals.Track
4, ‘Pacifically’ is the definite stand-out track on
the album with the band sounding more united than ever and moving
rapidly through a propulsive and progressive math-punk soundscape
complete with barking classic-hxc vocals. The package brings to
mind mathrockers Dysrhythmia jamming with Fugazi, and the last
40 seconds sees a frenzy of melodic guitars and tight percussion
uniting in angular disharmony to provide an outro that sounds
like Gordian Knot’s finest played at 45rpm.
Although Charlottefield prove to be up-and-coming purveyors of
angular, off-kilter post-hardcore experimentalism, their songs
are always guided by a keen sense of melody and exist in a synergeous
framework which sees a constantly shifting dialogue between band
members. ‘Broken Bells’ is an example of Charlottefield
toning things down to create what must be their most emotive and
poignant track. Slowed down, heartfelt and decipherable vocals
touch-base with huge, groove-laden guitar and bass swirls and
engaging percussion to create a cordial soundtrack to reminiscing
about the glory days of the Chicago-school of leftfield rock.
‘Threes’ is brimming with an electric and molten aesthetic,
mainly due to its beefy production values. Featuring an onslaught
of clustered, doom-laden post-rock drumwork and kraut-ish guitar
melodies which are dripping with a thick, melancholic goo, the
band carve an epic and almost psychedelic soundscape for House’s
tortured vocals. Like a slowed down Cult of Luna engaged in warfare
with Year Future, at a Cat On Form concert, the sound unconsciously
sucks you in and will undoubtedly result in your neck bobbing
frantically. On the closer, ‘Backwards’ the band’s
heavy math-rock aesthetic rises to fore once again with its frenzied
and cleverly intertwined guitar melodies and its gigantic wall
of percussion providing a stirring background to the sharp tongued
screamo barks of Thomas House.
I might have namedropped a large number of bands but the artists
mentioned occupy the upper-echelons of experimental rock and cover
a vast terrain of musical style. This in itself is a great tribute
to the sound and talent of Charlottefield, but the fact that they
can take all these styles and carve a soundscape that is very
much their own is something that is way more impressive. The bands
ability to play off each other and create an undeniable sense
of energy and emotion whilst achieving real synergy is another
plaudit which cannot be stressed enough. Overall, ‘What
Are Friends For’ welcomes 2008 in with a rasping, high-octane
soundtrack and proves that Brighton is still the place to be for
fresh talent. (KS)
For
fans of: Cat On Form, Your Enemies Friends, Year Future, Youthmovie
Soundtrack Strategies, Cult of Luna, The Edmund Fitzgerald, Get
Hustle, Love life, Ship’s A Going Down, Shellac
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