Andrew McGibbon – Northern Gothic (album, Blues For The Red Sun/Motor Sounds Records/Style Records)
THIS solo debut from Bonnevilles guitar slinger Andy McGibbon Jr has been a long time coming, to the point where fan anticipation for the record has built to an almost audible buzz (or maybe my ears are just wrecked from listening to The Bonnevilles far too loudly throughout lockdown).
Anyway, release the bats, because Northern Gothic is finally among us and very good it is too – a groovy, emotionally engaging and hugely atmospheric lo-fi 'soundtrack to an imaginary film' which finds Lurgan greaser/ renaissance man Andy (or rather, Andrew) expanding his musical palate beyond the wildly entertaining fuzz 'n' thump of his esteemed garage punk blues duo.
"I retreated a bit after the last tour of 2018, and wondered for real if I was done for," reveals Andrew in the accompanying liner notes.
"I didn't feel like I wanted to do it anymore but I wasn't absolutely certain one way or the other. I started painting and writing poems, anything to get the creativity out of me.
"I decided to write and record an album by myself, all the instruments and all the production... I needed to start writing from a different mental place with no rules and no deadline and only intend to please myself."
More power to the principle of pleasing yourself, because Northern Gothic's eclectic yet 100 per cent coherent selection of songs and moody musical moments gets under your skin after just a couple of listens. The only way to scratch the particular itch it creates is to enjoy yet another spin – something you can only do literally if you're quick enough to invest in the limited edition vinyl version.
Just five copies out of the 400 run were left in Andrew's Bandcamp store at time of press, so don't dawdle if you need a copy: order via Andrewmcgibbon.bandcamp.com/releases for a release date of December 15, plus a free digital download version delivered instantly to tide you over 'til then.
I'm mildly obsessed with We Get Used To Pain, a moody, countryish slow-burner on which Andrew strums and croons a late night, whiskey-numbed vibe into being before the tune begins to rise majestically upon melodic waves of gently swelling synths.
Yes, you read that right: there are synths on this record, but they are deployed tastefully and sound glorious both here, augmenting the choppy, twangy acoustic guitars of the album's superb opening gambit, cyborg cowboy campfire number We've Got Horns, along with a vintage sample of Huey P Long's speechifying. File under 'space-folk protest songs', maybe?
On the subject of protest numbers, The Bonnevilles man sticks it to The Man on spoken word based tune An Analogue. A Treatise on Violence, telling it how it is – "Capitalists are turning the world to dust and when we burn their Porsches, we're the criminals" – over driving fuzz bass, hammered one-note piano and cut 'n' pasted drum loops.
If that sounds a little too 'modern' for your tastes, Caoineadh Liam is a trad-informed droney dirge with some great finger picked guitar that should get your foot stomping, while The Winter is a fine slice of country-sad balladry.
Title tune Northern Gothic is all thumping slo-mo Motown drums, crashing cymbals and woozy blues lead licks, a kind of Codeine-addled soul number which segues nicely into another album highlight, Johnny Weismuller's Lagoon. It's maybe the most Bonnevilles-esque tune here, with the twist that it's mostly made out of a throbbing R'n'B bassline – The Bonnevilles, famously, somehow make do without the use of God's favourite four stringed instrument – until the choruses kick in with some wild guitar action quicker than you can say "Me Tarzan, you Jane".
gLITCH#3 is a sleepy-eyed 21st century that's all lazy bass, swelling synth, mournful Moog and glockenspiel tinkle, before closing instrumental Crash Us Into The Sun, one of the most explicitly 'soundtracky' tunes here, a squelchy synth powered sci-fi number which sounds not unlike it's escaped from an as yet undiscovered 1980s John Carpenter flick or maybe even an old Amiga 500 game.
Elsewhere, the slowly unspooling Theme From Summer's Tattoo is a dreamy, almost shoegazey affair based around a haunting piano riff hook, while the echoing white noise and ambient field recordings of mid-album moment Crime Scene is the most abstract, 'non-musical' experiment on offer.
"The album is a little weird, but that's OK," writes Andrew.
"I'm going to play out solo, just me on my own with an acoustic guitar like I used to when I started out, back to first principles."
I for one, cannot wait for those solo shows – hey, remember shows? – because this record is great. Listen and find out for yourself now at thebonnevilles.bandcamp.com/album/northern-gothic-andrew-mcgibbon, and keep your eyes peeled for news of any live/live streamed gigs he may be planning to celebrate a solo debut that was certainly worth waiting for.
:: Christopher Coll – The Black Doorway EP (Style Records)
ANOTHER new Style Records joint (other DIY record labels are available) arrives in the form of this new EP by Omagh singer/songwriter Christopher Coll, recorded and produced by Malojian mainman and Style big cheese Stevie Scullion.
It's an intimate, six song affair led by the haunting, hushed voice and acoustic guitar number A Vision, which finds Coll trading his distinctive deep baritone croon for a choirboy falsetto on the choruses. I've never been a fan of that Jeff Buckley-aping style, but somehow it works well here. A tune ripe for a duet with a female fellow traveller, for sure.
Coll sticks with his lower register on Into The Ocean, a pretty finger-pickin' lament for long-gone youth featuring a mournful harmonica solo that's sure to bring a tear to even the driest of eyes, while title track The Black Doorway adds cello and some impressive whistling skills into the mix as Coll waxes lyrical on matters of life and its impact on whatever comes next.
For Avery takes the form of a father-daughter advisory offering up wise words to live by. Indeed, Her & I also keeps it in the family with a heartfelt love song for a better half, before Coll goes a bit Johnny Cash with a load of ruminations on past wrongs for EP closer, An Apology.
Raw and real songwriting laced with the comforting quality of shared experience, The Black Doorway EP is a late night, bottle of whiskey kind of listen for those who need it most.
Grasp it tightly to your chest via Christophercoll.bandcamp.com.
:: Problem Patterns – Christmas Number One (single, self-released)
FINALLY for this week, we end things on a festive note with a Christmas single from the mighty Problem Patterns.
The amusingly titled Christmas Number One is not a cover of the glamtastic Black Arts tune from 2007, but rather a new original song – an energetic Breeders gone punk pop confection on which PP vent some pre-lockdown Christmas angst while reminding us that "Christmas has always been a little awful anyway". Can I get a 'bah humbug' over here?
Due for release today via problempatterns.bandcamp.com, it's the band's quality contribution to a new Christmas compilation project by Belfast Music, who will be unveiling one new festive themed track by a local artist every day of December in an 'audio advent calendar' style.
Get involved at Facebook.com/belfastmusic.
