Cyndies - Junkyard II
Rating: 8/10
Rating: 8/10
OK, so you know I said I would soon be doing some reviews of people who weren't affiliated with AS on the blog? Well I didn't lie. After getting in contact with a couple of labels I've been able to begin fulfilling my promise.
So, here we have the debut CD-R from Cyndies, who have been making some waves in the witch scene for a while. Their pairing with Phantasma Disques seems natural, in retrospect, given that the majority of "Junkyard II" is built upon similar textural leanings as some of the labels' other releases.
The name Junkyard II appears to be a play on the fact that the whole album feels like the 2011 version of the Birthday Parties' "Junkyard" LP, made from brash guitar, thrashes and flourishes of bass, snippets of different genres thrown hither and thither, led by a charismatic individual, and exploring the edge of the heavier end of the line betwixt structured music and chaotic noise.
The differences appear almost immediately though. For a start, the heavy use of samples, vocal stylings more akin to that of Nivek Ogre than Nick Cave, and post-rave synth lines pitted against what at first seems like a basic synthesized beat n bass combo which also generally cuts out or speeds up to inhuman speeds.
That isn't to say that each track doesn't have it's own identity: each one in an experience of its own. From the free-flowing structure of “Beverly Sick” to the bizarrely lucid tonal chaos of “Kotbusser Tor”, to the slow build and subtly disjointed rhythms of “Angelus Domini”, there are many avenues explored here.
What Cyndies originally promised with their debut track/vid “I Scream” - released a few months ago that made Cyndies a hot topic in the witch house scene to begin with – has been delivered with this album. Although “I Scream” is by far the most accessible track on the CD-R, the standout track for me has to be “Angelus Domini” with its use of church music, post rave keys, glitchy beats and layers of samples. Worthy of note is the progressively structured “Beverly Sick”, with vocals switching from gravelled chants one would expect to hear in nightmares to a lost-in-distortion wail. All of the elements intermingle towards the end when a missing synth element enters and draws the entire thing together.
The whole album is a remarkable experience from start to finish though. Densely layered with conflicting parts, always led by one morphing but anchoring element that rescues the entire album from falling into the chaos. As a debut album, you couldn't hope for better.
The whole album is a remarkable experience from start to finish though. Densely layered with conflicting parts, always led by one morphing but anchoring element that rescues the entire album from falling into the chaos. As a debut album, you couldn't hope for better.
The album is out now on Phantasma Disques for a very reasonable 12 Euros...
