by Kirin J Callinan
‘Way II War’ was one of the most arresting singles of 2012, a dip into the macabre with a film clip to match. Kirin J Callinan now delivers Embracism, his debut album after many turns as bandmate and sideman. It’s a provocative work, and certainly worthy of the PBS featured five.
In contrast to the single, the vocals on this album rise above the guttural. Revealed is an unmistakable Australian drawl, one that’s directed here to explorations of masculinity and youth. In both sound and lyric can be detected hints of JG Ballard’s merger of man and machine, allusions to auto- and homo-eroticism, and violence.
There’s something of early Depeche Mode in the sound, although other reference points certainly surprise. ‘Chardonnay Sean’ recalls the world’s favorite miserablist, Morrissey; the string arrangement on ‘Victoria M.’ could have featured on many a 1990s alternative rock release; ‘Come on USA’, including the refrain ‘Spring-steen’, seems to pine for the blue collar America mythologised by The Boss (although one can’t be sure). Yet, these references are all refashioned with satisfying twists – grating, scraping beats and percussion, bursts of whirring guitar, strained cries and silence. On some parallel plane, not too far from our own, this is popular music.
by Adrian Meade – Contact (alternating Mondays at 2am)
This week's Top 10:
