Planning For Burial : "Below the House"

 How this project eluded me , I am unsure, but this album put them firmly in my radar. It took forever for me to make it past the fourth song. I kept going back to listen to first three songs again. I was not expecting the album to start off as heavy as it does. Then it's pretty much what else could you ask for from there, I mean Thom Wasluck is a visionary blending shoe-gaze and post-punk pretty seamlessly. This is the album I wish Jesus made after their "Silver" ep. There is a break in the sonic density when it gets to "Warmth of You" which relaxes into a more introspective Cure like form of pot-punk.

Then at the 5th "song" the album takes a turn into a few more ambient pieces, which are good for what they are , not the sort of thing that will make it over to my ipd. He begins to form more tangible songs after this interlude of  sound with  "the dull knife". This is a two part concept the first song more distorted and sludge like in the weight it hit you with.  The second part is almost twelve minutes and a much more dynamic and sprawling post-rock affair. It comes out of a more compressed mood that carries a some what indie folk with a minimal drone, there is a certain honesty in his singing voice that I appreciate here. you know how I feel about long songs , but at the seven minute mark I finally looked up to see where we were, so it goes by in a very fluid fashion.

The title track is another descent into weirdness that is more of an outro as it rides on a hushed chant and some droning notes being sustained on a synth. The sounds are manipulated in varied ways , but it would be a stretch to really call this a song and is more like another piece of experimentation. When I interviewed Emma Ruth Rundle last night , the first thing I did was recommend this album to her. With that in mind I have to not only recommend it to you dear reader, but give it a 10, as the actual songs are perfect when he decides to make actual songs. While the more ambient droning pieces won't make it to my iPod , I can accept them more easily because it is clear when he is setting  his intentions on writing a song and when he is just making art in the form of sounds.

Released March 10th on the Flenser


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