Contortionist Blues Vol. 1 by the Royal Army Recording Company is an
almost too low-fi (levels anyone?), psych folk infused with country elements,
Colin Meloy meets Beck vocalized, good songwiting moments but overal too
disjointed and incoherent rock and roll album. The first few songs gave me hope
for it; the Midlake-sounding "Mustard Seeds" has a nice feel and wondrously
subdued guitar, while the opener,"Burn Down Your Mother's House is original with a
banshee howl of a guitar wail near the end, and there are some nice hooks on
the more poppier tracks (The Soft Contortionist, So Much for the Sun) but there
is a terrible lull in the third quarter of the album that almost drags it into
the depths of suckdom. Fortunately, the last track, "Googbye Luculle", borrows
some Shins and respectfully funeral dirges its way into a nice finish. A nice
effort but overall this album forces the question: has anything here not been
done before? No. 4.5/10
Jack Shimone
