The list of guest musicians who’ve joined brothers Simon and Toshi Kobayashi and Matt Atkins is impressive to say the least, with Jon Fine (Bitch Magnet), Ritsuko Taneda (Shonen Knife), Gill Sandell (Emily Baker and the Red Clay Halo) and Jen Macro (Something Beginning with L) all listed in the album’s credits. While their contributions are all noteworthy and played a part in bringing extra dimensions to smallgang’s second long-player, the material and its execution is of a standard that would make ‘san’ an outstanding album regardless.
‘Precursor’ is but a brief intro, and ‘Imminent Child’ sounds like a slightly weightier Pavement or a more melodic latter-day version of The Wedding Present, and it’s ok but nothing special in a world where every other indie band currently seems to be aping that 90s sound. It’s on the third track, ‘Orbs’, that thing start getting interesting.
A snarling bass snakes its way through squalling surf guitars, barrelling down into darker territory. Thudding floor toms provide the spine of the tense post-punk kaleidoscope of ‘A Mirror’, and it’s along these lines the album draws its distinct form. The edgy ‘A Wolf Or A Portal’ Simon’s voice is also integral to the band’s sound: it’s perhaps not the most melodic, and certainly isn’t the most conventional of styles, a quavering baritone pushed upwards giving a sense of desperation. The tension break on ‘Cards’, a reflective, jangling duet that builds to a scorching crescendo. The title track, which closes the album, is a blinding frenzy of tempestuous noise, a sonic catharsis that provides a perfect climax to an absolute gem of an album.
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