Warrington lads TUCO have captured a rare, darkly, hauntingly cinematic sound on ‘The Shrinking Process. It’s ‘walking’ music – the soundtrack to a lonely trek through a desolate city.
The dogged rhythm guitar of 'Meckanical Dialling' provides a quiet sense of optimism that works perfectly against the shrieking lead and soul-searching vocals. It’s a ‘sit up and listen’ start to the record that begins with the words ‘I think I’m better off without you’, a statement that the rest of the song seems intent on justifying. It’s followed by ‘Can’t Tell (The Good From The Bad)’, a track which calls to mind Lou Reed, but at the same time would seem at home on one of the earlier Radiohead albums.
'Sun to Sun' is reminiscent of the Beta Band with looping grooves and layers of guitars, composed vocals and electronica plucked from the ether. Things take a slightly brighter turn on ‘All Transition’; the singer sounds a bit like Paul Weller as Tuco bash out a short but sweet pop song which picks up the record’s pace at just the right time as chunky chords back more sonic rumbling. The paranoia returns for ‘I Don’t Mind’ though; it’s an eerie, echoing trip that leads into final track, ‘Fall’; it’s the album’s sunset, and whilst it wallows a bit it never becomes uncomfortably bleak.
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So, Tuco may not be for the faint-hearted. It’s music to accompany a film, a journey, a life; maybe just a grey Sunday afternoon. Either way, it’s music in which to find comfort, on both a personal level, and also in the fact that there are still bands out there capable of producing stuff like this.
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