Page 466 - Guildhall Coverage Book 2020-21

Describing the indescribable

Underpinning their almost carnivalesque approach to post-(indie)-rock is the band
members musical backgrounds. Half self-taught and the rest classically trained, the
album includes influences as diverse as Jewish klezmer music, most easily heard in
the albums opening tune, titled Instrumental combined with free form jazz and post-
rock under a broad ‘indie-rock’ umbrella.

Attempts by journalists to describe the bands musical style through
genre boundaries – or even describe it at all, come across as futile
at worst and slightly pointless at best. As Ellery notes, the band
don’t tend to disagree when it comes to making the music for their
songs, and this synchronization comes through in the record
whose value can be said to lie in making seven people, each
essentially just following their musical instinct, sound refined.

Part of their intrigue seems to
come from inciting intrigue
without really trying to seem
intriguing at all. Those already
following the band and their
music would have already
heard two songs on their album
which, with the album being
only 40 minutes long, would
mean that fans will have
already heard a quarter of their
new music. Promotional
pictures and personal
interviews are sparse (they
don’t even appear in their own
music videos) and questions
concerning the meaning of the
album’s cryptic lyrics –
arguably the most personal
aspect of the music, are usually
deftly batted away. ‘’”I wouldn’t
try to define or make some
meaning out of the lyrics,” the
band members keep telling me
during my call.

Indeed, the lyrics make little of
an immediately understandable
storyline put together, and risk bordering on pretentious before being saved by clever
one-liners and the excellent music behind them. Yet the band maintain a sense of
mystery around them primarily by being seemingly unbothered about putting
themselves out as individuals and leaving their already indescribable music pretty