Fade in. Cue the twinkles of sound and electronic ambience. Cue the thumping bass and cue the psychedelia. Introducing Gioele Valenti and Nicola Giunta. The Lay Llamas are here with their debut album ‘Ostro’. ‘We Are You’ was the first track we were to hear from the album (Listen below). The 7-minute-long beat oozing melody was also remixed by Tom Furse of The Horrors on the Llamas’ We Are You EP. Its a resonant flash of tribal fuzz and articulation. The formula of lyrics recited throughout is like a magic spell. One of the most compelling tracks of the album.
‘Ancient People of the Stars’ is a regression to King Tut’s era. The lyrics were even written in hieroglyphics – we joke, there are none, it is the infinitely instrumental precursor to ‘We Are You’ and a celestial opener to the album. The Sicilian duo were in fact influenced from bygone times.
Self-titled track ‘The Lay Llamas’ seems like a whole different story all together – twisted and cryptic and the most accelerated of ‘Ostro’. Every track has its own feel, its own spirit. The bass is a vivid and a colourful flow teamed with a layer of roaring enigmatic guitar and synth.
‘Desert of Lost Souls’ doesn’t stray too far on the bass front. The distortion carries on through, manipulating its way around the bass. The gradual, seemingly instinctive introduction of instruments is placid and dreamlike. We are lead to a blast of vocals, naturally fitting with the sounds the duo have created and imagined, the fuse is simple yet complex. A larger plough of synth towards the last third of the track finishes it off without boring the daydreamers. One instrument leads to another, no lavish endings, no drowning vocals, the balance is right.
‘Overmind’ appears lighter, brighter and with 1 and a half minutes of it to mark the peak and the halfway point of the album. Being transported back to my childhood, the Llamas turned to the clangers for intro advice with ‘Archaic Revival’. Nearing 10 minutes of sound, the real heat of the song is met when they progressively tune us in via fading once more. The frenzied drumming steering from the guitar like oil and water, the song doesn’t blend into a blur, you can hear all that is going on, every spec, every sound – including the haunting vocals, repeating a distorted, fleshy mantra into our brains.
‘Something Wrong’ is like a tinnitus problem you want to hear. The electric orbs of sound wallowing into howls and cavorting vocals, exploding into a man-made, upbeat swell of psychy pop, conjoined with the enthralling bass of the guitar, once again the focus of the bass throughout the album re-installs the significance of the instrument in bands today.
Snake charmers come to mind. ‘In Search of Plants’ and the cemented vibrations of the bass continue. Echoes of the tender vocals turned sultry with the synthesizer. The floaty aura of the track wraps around your ears like a nurturing hug.
By track 9 of ‘Ostro’, you will be hearing voices – ‘Voices Call’ is a lullaby of whispers, taking you somewhere else. Its the climax to the finish. The sounds begin to laze, the feeling of assurance that you are completely and wholly satisfied with the album sets in. A jewel in your record collection, a magnum opus.
Released 26 May 2014 on Rocket Recordings. Pre-order here.
Track Listing
1. Ancient People Of The Stars
2. We Are You
3. The Lay Llamas
4. Desert Of Lost Souls
5. Overmind
6. Archaic Revival
7. Something Wrong
8. In Search Of Plants
9. Voices Call
Listen to ‘We Are You’ below:
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