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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Seymoure
Demos 00/01\r\n(self-released)
By Ken Shimamoto
Saw these guys in the middle of a Thursday night Wreck Room bill topped by the Ho Chi Men, who played the most full-on rocking show I’ve seen them do. Both bands played to an embarrassing eight people. HCM drummer Pete Young informed me that Seymoure had just lost its guitar player, but, like troopers, remaining band members figured the show must go on, and go on it did.
Seeing Seymoure’s three-piece configuration, I was expecting Cobain-arama but got something Entirely Other ... spacey, atmospheric bits in between the angst-fests, sounds like cellos and chimes, a bass player who had more pedals on his board than the guitarist did, and a drummer whose mother must stay up late nights worrying about his posture. (I mean it. It’s atrocious. The cat’s internal organs are probably all compressed.)
The sleeve to this self-released c.d. lists five musicians, and I think I hear a keyboard player on some of the tracks in addition to the departed guitarist. The tunes range from plaintive acoustic ballads to more aggressive stuff to the kind of exploratory, experimental pieces the guys were purveying at the Wreck.
Throughout, the vibe shifts back and forth between ethereal and rockin’. “Rope Tight Perfect” is a good example, with yer typical alt-rock octave solo guitar lines giving way to a delicate piano before an electronically altered vocal takes the song to a totally different place. “Wilted” has the gentle, contemplative, almost jazzy feel of something from mid-period Pink Floyd, down to the Gilmour-ian slide guitar. The “hidden” 11th track runs on for 20 minutes or so, trailing off with a hypnotic sample.
One gets the sense that Seymoure remains a work in progress, but the music’s capacity to surprise makes this a rarity among local releases — hell, among rock releases in general.
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