Review: The Body ‘The Crying Out Of Things’
Having recently witnessed The Body live in Salford on the back of their Orchards Of A Futile Heaven release with Dis Fig, I kind of knew what to expect from the duo of Chip King and Lee Buford, as seeing an incarnation of them live was like an out of body experience, and one that left me a bit open mouthed at times.
The spoken word and rumbling intro on the opening track Last Things gives a snippet of what is in store across the nine tracks, but if you haven’t heard The Body before, then get ready for your brain to be blown apart as the duo are here to expand your mind, as they have previously done with me before now. Chip’s vocals certainly aren’t for everyone so if you don’t mind listening to a series of loud screams, intertwined with selective spoken word inserts, then crack on and enjoy.
It is, however, the musical landscape that The Body are pushing the boundaries of, they have an unorthodox approach to their sounds and are creative and innovative to some, whilst being provocative and maddening to others. Removal is a barrage of noise, dubbed with samples and a drone like a pneumatic drill pounding away on your skull, whilst being full of misery with subtle arrangements, whereas Careless And Worn asks a series of poignant questions, ‘why live?’ and ‘why at all?’.
Guitarist and vocalist King, alongside electronics and percussionist Buford, are masters of their art, of that there is no doubt…
A Premonition carries the experimentation further and doffs their cap in the direction of hip hop and R ‘n’ B, genres which both the duo love, but it’s still got that cutting edge before Less Meaning has a significantly different aesthetic to it, being more up-tempo with a punk edge. As Buford said himself, ‘You’ve gotta really listen if you’re into noise, but it also has to have dynamics’. Some will simply dismiss their music as unlistenable, but it’s more subtle, complex and refined to simply dismiss it.
The Citadel Unconquered has a much slower drum beat to it, lulling you into a false sense of security in some respects, but again it shows their versatility and how they manipulate the sonics to fit what they want it to sound like. End Of Line feels like a continuation of that, as the beat is again slower and not as manic as previous songs, but it feels more emotional and bleaker, with lyrics such as ‘all hopes tortured’ and ‘remain with bitter resentment’.
Guitarist and vocalist King, alongside electronics and percussionist Buford, are masters of their art, of that there is no doubt, and with The Building we are back to the disjointed noise, crushing sounds and challenging distortions from previously in the album, and as they end with All Worries they ramp up their pioneering layering and musical arrangements with what sounds like a church choir vocal, making the song sound formidable and actually, quite scary, but what a way to end it. A complete triumph.
Label: Thrill Jockey Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Matthew Williams
