Shrinebuilder: Some Reviews Don’t Need a Clever Headline
It?s hard not to feel like you?re standing in the presence of greatness when listening to Shrinebuilder?s self-titled debut (Neurot), and likewise difficult to separate the music from those making it. In that way I?d liken the experience to hearing Nola by Down for the first time and trying to pick out who wrote which riff, only in the case of Shrinebuilder, the personalities involved are even more distinct and with all four members adding vocals, it?s easier to imagine the individual contributions? origins.
A band comprised of Scott Kelly (Neurosis) and Scott ?Wino? Weinrich (The Obsessed, The Hidden Hand, Wino) on guitar, Al Cisneros (OM, Sleep) on bass and Dale Crover (Melvins, Altamont) on drums, there was no way Shrinebuilder wasn?t going to be good, and so the anticipation for the five-track offering has moved from excited to feral over the course of the last year. As an album, Shrinebuilder meets every expectation head on and melds the different styles of Kelly, Wino, Cisneros and Crover so that there is a flow from song to song sounding natural and direct. When album opener, ?Solar Benediction,? kicks off with Wino and Kelly trading vocals, the energy in the recording is driving, powerful and only made stronger by the back and forth musical conversation of the players.
If there?s an album released this year for which I want to jump wholeheartedly on the hype bandwagon, it?s this one. You?re going to see reviews out there with all kinds of flowery language and mountainous metaphors, but cutting through all that crap, the fact of the matter is these four musicians have come together and created something very special. Shrinebuilder was recorded in three days, and that immediacy is not lost in the music. Though ?Solar Benediction? gives itself over to a wandering ambience (and reminds that not all who wander musically are lost), the crunching doom riffage of advance preview track ?Pyramid of the Moon? and Kelly?s subdued vocal offer the next stage in what proves to be an ongoing Shrinebuilder metamorphosis. As they present themselves across the four songs on the album promo — closer ?Science of Anger? was left off press copies of the record — the band is constantly changing. Cisneros? vocals and distinct style of riffing come across with a grounding effect that plays better than expected off Kelly and Wino?s soloing and as he takes the lead toward the end of ?Pyramid of the Moon,? he comes on bearing all the spiritual communion of OM with him. As the track reaches its sudden conclusion, it feels like it could go forever.
Cisneros opens ?Blind for all to See? on bass and when he is soon joined by Crover?s drumming and the casual development of the track is under way. Mellow vocals lead to psychedelic guitar solos that persist for several minutes before the bass once again takes the fore and the structure repeats to the song?s 7:28 conclusion. Like OM?s best work, ?Blind for all to See? is driven more by the hypnotic overall atmosphere than one especially memorable riff or part. As a setup for the pure Wino-age (though that might be a Kelly riff in the intro) of the shorter ?The Architect,? it succeeds fantastically.
?The Architect,? at 5:59, is perhaps the most straightforward cut on Shrinebuilder. Wino puts his trademark vocal over a Hidden Hand-style riff while Crover reminds everyone of just how unnecessary it was for The Melvins to get a second drummer. Once again Kelly plays off Wino?s singing and that pairing as it appears on this track and the opener might be the highlight of the record. A killer, extended solo leads to a bass outro one can only assume plays right into ?Science of Anger? as flowingly as the preceding songs went from one to the next, ends ?The Architect? with a sense of groove-laden contemplation, and though by this time one might feel in listening he or she should be constructing the places of worship, Shrinebuilder ably execute their first offering with a sense of humility. As expected, it is one of the best albums of 2009.
Tags: Gods, Neurot, Shrinebuilder
