If you've been moved to fits of enthusiasm by LIGHTNING BOLT and OXES, and if SHELLAC is part of your reference material for what counts as good, then THAT FUCKING TANK will crush your dancing toes in a very agreeable way.
The English James Islip and Andy Abbott are in the same territory as those United States heroes, with similarly self-imposed technical restrictions. Their politics, aesthetics and their working procedures are just as edgy. Their musical output, brilliantly captured on this release, is every bit as original and satisfying.
The recording was done in a large barn by all accounts. Abbott and Islip are reported to be very pleased with the result, and it would be very odd if they weren't. It has a taut, crisp and very punchy sound. Everything has energy and precision. If you imagine that one guitar and one minimal drum kit with almost no vocals would be austere and monochrome, then the surprise of this album is an immediate sense of fun, variety and involvement. With more intensive listening, the quality of the musicianship and the intricacy of the conceptualisation become inescapable. Earlier TANK releases pale in comparison. This has to stand as their first major release and deserves to be considered in all the serious places where punk, hardcore, prog-disco or whatever you want to call it are cherished.
The aforementioned guitar is a baritone, with a longer neck that makes it possible to play deeper lines as well as the normal range of the modern electric guitar. Abbott uses a foot pedal to switch mid-phrase between amplifiers and speaker cabs and with judicious use of exceptional skill the end result sounds uncannily like an exceptionally tight bass/two guitar combination. Islip's drumming is similarly pyrotechnic. Live, the spectacle is a big part what THAT FUCKING TANK present. On record, the economy of instrumentation is heard, not as freakish minimalism but as exceptionally focussed, muscular music. The extreme limitations demand accurate and thoughtful judgement at every turn.
Coming fresh to the album "Good Morning" will be a totally unexpected introduction. Perhaps I shouldn't spoil the surprise. But it's like a bright dawn on a summer's day. Is the drummer playing some guitar in it? Maybe. Down to business right away though, breakfast or no breakfast. The thunderous "Making a Meal for Beethoven" tears in and makes it absolutely clear what the rest of the album is all about. The main riff is almost as bombastic as the 1812. Fills and thrills abound. "Simply The Beast" follows, with Oxes-style guitar rippling and TANK-style stereo switching that dazzle the senses and pummel any remains of rationality to a liquidised parsnip soup (with cumin). Throb, throb, clang.
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Among the 14 tracks on the album there are nine in this recognisably THAT FUCKNG TANK groove. They're explosively charged, with an improvised feel within their very disciplined framework. You could furrow your brow and get desperately intense about heir darkly violent surface. But there's no reason at all why you couldn't dance like a fool if you wanted to. When half the band is a very direct and precise drummer, it could hardly be otherwise. I would recommend brain shut-down and physical involvement as the most rewarding response. But it does work both ways.
The interlude tracks keep the listener refreshed and ready for anything. "Good Morning" and "Say Goodnight" are splendid mood pieces that open and close the album. "Land Speak Record" is a short and bizarre unaccompanied sea shanty. "Evening in Body Café" is sample cut and paste from Abbott's culinary side (I think you could make Cranberry Relish from it’s finely diced lyrics). And "The Freedom of Music" slices a very fresh strip of THE CULT's Sea Shell Sanctuary straight off the market stall and sears it with aromatic vocals in an improvised wok – very nice indeed.
The heavy vinyl edition can be ordered through the Jealous website and is promised for despatch from November 21st. The CD release is scheduled for January 2006, but at £10 the vinyl does look like the right move.
www.jealousrecords.com
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