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There
are many great ideas in this record. And for a while it sounds
like Strega is going to be an astonishing album.
Unfortunately, it kind of reminds me of eating undercooked pork.
The first few seconds of a bite are great. All the juices are
flowing and soaking your taste buds with flavors. ‘This is a
fantastic treat from mother nature’, you think, but as the
chewing goes on the tepid rawness of a meat that shouldn’t be
eaten medium or rare becomes evident. Then you either swallow or
spit out. Like that Strega starts off stronger than
strong; “Sugar Creek” is a confusing mélange of stoner riffs,
hammering noise, and blunt psychedelic fuckery. The vocals of
Rebecca Vernon lie somewhere between those of PJ Harvey (in
quirky, off beat yet strangely attractive) and L7’s Donita
Sparks (in pure balls) and add a whole different layer of
opposing feelings. It’s an impressive track to say the least.
It’s got quite the hypnotizing effect. It’s sweet, sensible and
delicate and yet once the song breaks, it turns rough.
But as
Strega moves in, it loses shape and much of the charm
spilled by “Sugar Creek” gives way to a heartbreaking sense of
disconcert. At times I didn’t even know what I was hearing.
“Crucible” clashes with itself with organized melodies and noise
flowing nicely until awkward breakdowns and a simplistic chorus
highlights the fact that perhaps Subrosa has all the right
ideas, but there are moons to pass before they fully gel.
“Christine”
works out better; picture a great chunky stoner guitar riff and
a powerful female voice that is somewhat corrupted by the band’s
experimentations. And by experimentations I mean, imagine just a
line of noise, an extended tone with no rhyme nor soul just floating up
front, distracting and annoying like Robin Williams anytime out
of character. I know there is a violin player in Subrosa, but I
can’t imagine that instrument making all that foreign noise. The
point is Subrosa’s fancy for the strange nearly ruin some of
their best moments. It’s a shame because this band has an
excellent sound. The vocals are gorgeous, the guitar sound is
totally killer, but the end product needs more focus.
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