Guitar - Sunkissed
"Sun-drenched" and "shivering" are the alliterative words which immediately spring to mind when hearing Guitar's Sunkissed. Following on the heels of Morr Music's tribute to Slowdive, Blue Skied an' Clear, Guitar (who contributed a track to that compilation which was, in hindsight, just a warm-up for this album) has released a full-on shoegazer record. Comparisons to My Bloody Valentine are to be expected and, while Guitar does adhere to that landmark wall of sonic force which Kevin Shields so precisely nailed over a decade ago, Sunkissed breaks free of the shadow cast by My Blood Valentine's Loveless with its use of IDM rhythms and coquettish vocals spiraling over the thick mass of gossamer sound.
There is a bit of Ecstacy of St. Theresa flowing through here as well as a bit of the impenetrable sound which was Lovesliescrushing. The recipe also calls for a dash of Japanese pop on a few tracks and the inclusion of a nostalgia piece for those who shiver with memory of Curve back in the Doppelganger day. Yeah, full-on knobs to 11 shoegazer. Which, if you're going to do it, is the only way to play. Make 'em get out their My Bloody Valentine records and make sure the old standards haven't just been eclipsed.
Vocal duties are split between Regina Janssen (of Donna Regina fame) and Ayako Akashiba, swaying between girl-pop candy floss thrown over the top of the many layers of guitar sound and a more -- I was about to say "queenly" when I realize there is a verbal trap waiting for the Latin readers in the audience -- regal siren who floats like Ophelia on sun-drenched waters. "House Full of Time" languorously flows with the current of echoing chords, slowly spinning counter-clockwise to the pace of the current. In "See Sea, See and Me," a polyrhythm clatters beneath the looped foreground, a scattered sound which threatens to topple the track but, somehow, only manages to make you listen more closely to all the interwoven parts beneath the breathy vocal track.
"Hot Sun Trail" begins with a whistle from a steam train and the enveloping hiss of its stoked engines. The only instrumental track on the record, "Hot Sun Trail" is the highlight of Sunkissed, a gloriously warm, beat and string excursion into landscapes bleached to a singular shade by the sun. Think of those summer days overflowing with sunlight -- white and yellow light so bright that you have to close your eyes, you can feel it heating your face and neck.
"Melt" is a visit to Curve's studio with Red Room Laura Palmer in tow. As Ayako Akashiba's vocals are spun backwards, the mix explodes like something from Curve's Radio Sessions -- a flush of sound that both shrieks and rumbles as it falls over you. Your hand will reach unconsciously for the volume knob, not to turn it down but to bring the sound up even more. "Melt" is built to threaten your amplifier. Let it.
The surprise of Sunkissed is that you want to laugh when you listen to these hurricane waves of sound. There is so little of the shoegazer mindset -- the head down, staring at the laces, lost in the drones and tsunami of feedback and "wall o' guitar" -- and so much open-mouthed, throat-stretching, hot fucking summer day joy on this record. Bravo.
Morr Music [2002]
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