Some music was meant to be underappreciated. I think of bands like Barkmarket, The Jesus Lizard, and the Melvins that remain just inaccessible enough that they always sit just underneath the radar of massive success.
Add another band to the list. Bear vs. Shark (BVS) are weird, but within some of the confines of convention. They sound like a lot of other bands, but only for mere moments as they slip in and out of styles, genres and experiments. I hear some early Modest Mouse, a bit of Cap'n Jazz, lots of The Melvins, a bit of Dinosaur Jr. as well as a bit of Sonic Youth, The Pixies and plenty more that haven't latched on just yet. Yet, it seems strangely cohesive. Maybe it has something to do with the people in the band.
Says front man Marc Paffi, "We wrote 60 percent of our new album in a cabin with four-wheelers and crossbows. This is honestly one of the most important components of the album because we really took this time alone with each other to put all our influences in the songs."
Regardless of how it all came to be, I am left listening to Terrorhawk which is a cohesive collection of songs that should keep fans listening for hours, months and possibly years. It is the kind of album (if you like some weirdness) that will keep you listening like people watch Tim Burton movies, picking up new things each time through the piece.
Normally, I would go through some tracks highlighting moments in the album at this point, but I am not going to do that for this album. If you like any of the bands that I listed above and are feeling a bit adventurous, check out this album.
I will also add one more band to the list, because I feel like this album filled a big hole for me in my music collection. I was so impressed by the album and EP from The Canterbury Effect and they apparently fell off the face of the earth. While Bear vs. Shark is a bit more diverse than the material from The Canterbury Effect, it gave me the types of vocals, melody and guitar work that I have been sorely missing, since those boys didn't put out another album.
You can find more about Bear vs. Shark at Equal Vision Records or at BearVsShark.com, or you can check out their song, "5,6 Kids" at Purevolume.com
Article comments
1 - christopher
browsing the google net looking for CE reviews and saw your mention of them here along with a note about them falling off the face of the earth.
thought i'd let you know Canterbury Effect recently put out a new album on XRA.
2 - Craig Lyndall
Glad to hear it. I just picked up my copy via the label's myspace site. Click on the link near Christopher's name to get your own copy.