When a PR company works with a band they will generally send out a press release to announce the forthcoming single/ album/ whatever. Most of these are fairly standard… Band A is releasing Song A, Song A sounds a bit like Band B and Band C, Band A have been supported by Major Blog A, Major Blog B, and Website C, etc. This is fine, I’m not complaining, these releases are about getting information out clearly, entertainment is secondary. The press release for Outblinker’s new release, “The Remains of Walter Peck,” is not like that.
Instead, it reads like a stream of consciousness about art, its place in modern society, and a rejection of fame and all its trappings (done, I would hope, with all the intended irony one would expect from writing this as a press release).
It was an incredibly entertaining read, and while it told me very little about the release or band themselves, it did I suppose do its job and get me to go listen to the EP. So with all of this in mind, here’s what I thought of the band’s latest free track “Farrokh Bulsara.”
Right from the get go there is a building intensity to the music. An ominous drone backdrops guitars (or maybe they’re synths) which teeter just on the edge of exploding into feedback. The remains of a vocal line flickers, drenched in echo, like something from a movie dream sequence.
It’s engaging, but goes on a little too long for my liking, before at the 2:40 mark a drum track rises through the mix to take command of the song. The guitars follow, breaking into piercingly high riffs which twinkle around the pounding of the drums. There is a strong comparison with Fuck Buttons, as indeed the track was co-written and recorded with FB’s Ben Power. I would also say that if you like bands like Battles and Talons, then this would also be right up your street.
The track is a solid one, it builds nicely, but I would personally like a little more diversity of ideas to be included—changing up the sounds before they get overextended—but that is more personal preference than a slight. Still this is a band who seem to have a very clear idea about who they are and how they want to be perceived, which makes the upcoming EP an intriguing prospect—one which I am keen to hear.
“The Remains of Water Peck” by Outblinker is released on 6th May 2016 via Stabbed In The Back Records and is available to pre-order on the band’s Bandcamp page.
