Nicholas Allbrook’s main band Pond make quality records of throwback psych/glam and perform live shows – with Allbrook out front, a junkie soul-captain – that are seriously something to tell your friends about. But it’s always felt like he’s capable of much more than what fits with that band’s bombastic slant.
Ganough, Wallis & Fatuna is Allbrook’s first solo record, and it comes good on the promised but not-yet-realised extent of Allbrook’s idiosyncratic talent. First there’re the vocals. He sings with greater freedom, moving between dreamy falsetto and ocker-tongued speak-singing. Accordingly, the lyrics range from confessional: “My eyes are focused on nothing at all, and nothing in my heart;” to Dylan-esque surrealism: “Omniscient beings wouldn’t choose to live in the gutter.”
The choruses contain enough lip-smacking melody to suggest Allbrook could easily match the sing-along quality of Yoshimi-era Flaming Lips. Instead, he frequently detours into experimental or just plain fucked-up territory. ITTTME is basically a schizophrenia expose. It moves from fuzzy-riffing to acid-trip levitation, before returning to the riffs with the addition of guitar screeching hysteria.
While Ganough, Wallis & Fatuna proves Allbrook’s a dexterous and crafty musician, a crucial level of simplicity is maintained throughout. There’re plenty of clever chord patterns and the brilliant disfiguring of seemingly well-behaved songs, but Allbrook makes sure each song’s worth listening to first.
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
Best Track: Whispers of Beauty
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: Connan Mockasin, The Fireman, Air
In A Word: Yoko
