Shop : Castings - Punk Rock Is Bunk Squawk

CDR from Spanish Magic (SM15)

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On their fourth Spanish Magic release, Newcastle experimental outfit Castings have stumbled upon a tranquil pasture within their well-explored field of aural anarchy. The dot matrix album art may be standard fare for a band like this – with its collage-mutilated head and monochrome shades – but it actually looks like the music sounds: frightening, cryptic and provocative. Menacing clatter is Castings' established forte, but on Punk Rock is Bunk Squawk they tackle melody like never before, while still retaining the noisy debris of previous releases. 'Entremes' is a sparse, hiss-soaked meditation featuring a faintly pressed keyboard lament, a complete left turn from the clamour and grind of the opening track. Castings have always conjured bleak industrial decay and laneways long forgotten by the council-cleanup truck, but here they explore melodic paths to penetrate a more subtle and emotive realm. On 'I'm In My War Face' an oddly calming synth composition slowly bleeds and morphs into a mechanical defect, before being subsumed by short bursts of harsh noise and feedback. The noise-versus-melody dynamic lends the cacophony a character that many conventional noise acts rarely achieve. Rather than taking the simple antithetical approach to music via crude sound, Castings sculpt tumultuous soundscapes where almost anything can be encountered. by Shaun Prescott

http://www.spanishmagic.org
http://www.geocities.com/castings_music

Added by luke on 27 June 2007