STRUMPETS are a psychedelic dadaist pop group from Antwerp, Belgium, led by the Argentinian Miguel Horacio Sosa and this is their second album. Of all the things mentioned in their biography, ‘baroque’ and the lyrical mingling of real experiences and anecdotes through automatic poetry sound most convincing to me.
The album kicks off with what may well be the single, Tamara. It’s all "la la la la la la’s" about some dream girl and is dressed in some nice harmonies and guitar work. Hollow Dusty Hall is quite a change up, starting out with distorted guitars and vocals, kind of a garage pop feel and then after 1.48 it goes all dream pop. Alas Descartes slows things down with a portentous bass riff and you start to get the impression of a wilful artist at work. That is not to say the album lacks cohesion. Miguel’s vocals and lead guitar lines have signature. The title track is slow paced again with a very simple arrangement. Forgive me for not quoting lyrics, but it’s quite difficult to pick out whole couplets plus they are surreal and perhaps best not taken out of context. They do, however, work well with the music.
Centurial Jinx is a jangly reverb of a track about dialectic dreams? In A Pallor Dream is a peach of a track. It is a more traditional pop tune that someone famous would be proud of and it is the shortest track here by over a minute which helps. Mad In Ivory takes almost the same amount of time to get started but still fares reasonably well. Gargantuan Lasting Love (try putting that to a melody) repeats the lyric for a bit, then disappears and then comes back seemingly as a different song?
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Surreality is a stated aim. Kinetic Twins has some nice slide guitar and a Beatles’ style arrangement. Without Brakes has Alex Van Herk on vocal duties and they are actually a lot more up front. It reminds me of Chris Isaac’s Wicked Games but musically more than vocally.
Void Love is a very 60’s affair with a surf undertow and the final track The Agent Of Her Heart is no departure from what has gone on previously. If you like 60’s inspired surreal pop you should check this album out.
Jezus Factory Records online
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