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Dusted Reviews
Artist: Cerberus Shoal Album: Bastion of Itchy Preeves Label: North East Indie Review date: Apr. 4, 2004 |
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The last thing I remember hearing by Cerberus Shoal was some fairly generic, albeit well conceived and executed post-rock/emo-lite replete with strings in all the right, i.e. obvious, places. How things do change in the space of seven years.
Bastion of Itchy Preeves documents a band undergoing a process of gradual, but continual metamorphosis, forever eager to broaden its horizons and to digest a widening range of influences, both sonic and otherwise. But Cerberus Shoal shouldn’t be tagged as mere band-wagon chancers. This is a wise evolution - a leopard should change its spots, especially if the change of clothes suits them as well as this.
The music on Bastion was first written by the group in 2000, but was not completed until the Spring of 2003. It is a clear indication of where the group are headed. We hear broad sections of trance like meditational drones before they spool out into the minimalism of Steve Reich from which in turn they open out into a more accessible and cohesive take on the Sun City Girls own unique brand of hoodoo weirdness and mysticism (the band recently released a split record with the Girls’ Alan Bishop).
It is almost certain that Bastion of Itchy Preeves won’t receive the same critical reception as bands working in a similar musical sphere – the No Necks, JOMF and the Sunburned Hand of the Man etc – which is truly a pity, as almost all of this album exhibits the freshness and inventiveness which is already becoming worryingly scarce amongst their prospective peers.
By Spencer Grady
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Cerberus Shoal