Four years or so back with a single track Belgium outfit Raketkanon had us hooked. Florent was one of those lust fuelled moments we all have from time to time; an inescapable connection which their subsequent second album reinforced with a longer to work but just as persuasive temptation. Now the Flemish band has returned with its successor and an even more ridiculously compelling and creatively maniacal proposition.
In many ways RKTKN#3 is the obvious continuation of the Ghent hailing quartet’s unique sound and inimitable endeavour but swiftly proves itself a whole new escapade of raw imagination and manipulative noise. The years between releases has seen a bold new maturity rise in songwriting and craft as well as creative babble, every moment of their new trespass angling to and effortlessly succeeding in getting under the skin while again vocally frontman Pieter-Paul Devos fingers the imagination and raucously roars in his own perpetually intelligible language, one which constantly teases recognition and understanding with every squall and seduction escaping his fevered throat for another layer of texture and intimation to devour and play with. RKTKN#3 rears up from a dark place, its breath at times as dystopian as it is invigorating and each spread of its suggestive soundscapes a beguiling intrusion on the assumed safety and composure of mind and senses.
The album springs into life with Ricky sauntering on the wiry lures of Lode Vlaeminck’s synth. Inherently infectious rhythms are soon cast by drummer Pieter De Wilde, his swings becoming more rapacious as the raw senses squirrelling throes of Jef Verbeeck’s guitar burst forth. Devos’ restless tones quickly add to the increasingly virulent incitement; intrigue and mayhem coating every colluding texture even as warm calms emerge to subsequently share their own growing paranoia.
It is a riveting start to the album swiftly matched by the even more asylum like Fons. Vocal gabble leads sonic stalking, the guitar offering initial glimpses of the track’s predacious heart before both ignite with the fiery blaze of the synth’s unpredictable melodic causticity. As everywhere, ever ready unpredictability soaks every twist and turn; steering the imagination and an increasingly greedier appetite for the song’s crazed composure and seductive ferocity.
Mélody matches the instinctive catchiness of its predecessor with its own melodic coaxing; vocal seduction and gentle caresses of guitar teasing forth the ever fertile and varied enterprise of Vlaeminck’s synth. There is a mordant lining to its tempting though which openly simmers but never truly ignites as the track continued to enthral before Hannibal breaks its borders. Atmospheric inkling seeds the threatening pulse of a rhythmic and electronic march, a further sinister repose the base for an even greater ravening file of sonic trespass. The track is superb, fiercely manipulative and soon had this body instinctively stomping to the feral quality to the Raketkanon sound.
Even the melancholic yet vibrant serenade of Robin wears this untamed edge on its sleeve, a suggestion of wild instincts almost taunting from within its hypnotic post punk siren calling while Lou immediately after scents its own alluring disquiet with individual melodic alchemy, every gathering thread and layer of sound portentous in its radiance. It is a predictive tone eventually given corrosive voice as the track embroils the senses in its ravenous dissonance. A fusion of progressive and noise rock with any carnivorous flavour you can imagine, the song lures and seduces with a slower proving compared to its fellow protagonists but no less successfully persuasive prowess.
The senses stabbing eruption of next up Harry instantly had ears and senses on board, De Wilde sheer rabid coercion before synth and guitar entangle their own adventurous cajolery which is more than matched by that of Devos’ ever fecund antics. Creative haywire bred on organised deviancy, it is simultaneously dance-floor rabid and imagination provocative, the latter trait tauntingly exploited by the following Ernest with its wonderfully nagging qualities within another captivating sonic kaleidoscope.
The album is closed up by Mido, an anomalously harmonious serenade as disturbingly haunting as it is infectively engaging which simply seduced from start to finish. As all tracks, it is a lure of individual uniqueness which echoes the idiosyncratic character of the Raketkanon sound
At a push the Belgian Rocketcannon is kind of akin to an entanglement of Melvins, Devo, Powersolo and Coilguns yet still pretty distant from what that hints at but as RKTKN#3 proves it is something rather special which is all you need to know.
RKTKN#3 is out now via Alcopop! Records @ http://ilovealcopop.awesomedistro.com/products/636359-raketkanon-rktkn3-12-cd and also available on cassette @ https://bethshalomrecords.bandcamp.com/album/rktkn-3
http://www.raketkanon.com https://www.facebook.com/Raketkanon/
Pete RingMaster 30/04/2019
Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright
Never a labour only an addictive pleasure even at its extensive length, the excellent opener hands ears and imagination over to the following Skin Stay Thin. Its first breath brings an inescapable swing which again is as primal and raw as it is compelling and manipulative. Hooks and grooves spring like leeches at the imagination, a mischievous edge to them all recalling the creative antics of former PiL/Killing Joke/Pigface member Martin Atkins in his Brian Brain guise. Becoming more caustic by the moment it in turn makes way for the electro /noise punk courting of Where Is the Fun?, those wonderfully infernal rhythms again worming under the skin and into hips within seconds. Vocals, words, and guitar swiftly entwine and saunter across that rhythmic incitement, the latter embracing blues grazing to its melodic vines and funk nurtured swings.
That success only builds as the insatiable punk ‘n’ roll of Misbehavior devours ears, again the two protagonists creating a noise clad contagion which sparks body and spirit. As with those around it, the song makes physical involvement a given in its swift but unquenchably boisterous escapade; a perpetual trait across The Biggest Sound in evidence again within Stuck On You. Carrying a power pop infection to its earthy rock ‘n’ roll, the track maybe leaps around with less intensity than its predecessor but with equal adventure as grunge instincts fuel the guitar. It is easy to hear Nirvana bred inspirations at play within the song but equally there are moments which seem nurtured by a fondness of bands such as Rocket From The Crypt and The Vaccines as it lays down another peak in the increasingly mountainous landscape of the album.
Both the previous tracks leave pleasure full if without quite at the heights of earlier tracks or found in the heavier rock ‘n’ roll of Rigged show. The track is a muscular and gnarly yet controlled and flirtatious encounter demanding subservience to its scything beats and sonic antics. There is hint of bands like Cheap Trick and Golden Earring to the song, but small hues in a certainly seemingly familiar but distinct escapade.
With their self-titled debut album still ringing in and exciting ears since its release towards the end of last year, Cleveland hailing Archie and the Bunkers offer up The Roaring 20’s for the single. Taking their name from the classic US television sitcom All in the Family and drawing on inspirations from the likes of Dead Boys, The Animals, The Stooges, The Screamers, The Damned, Jimmy Smith, and Richard ‘Groove’ Holmes, siblings Emmett (drums/vocals) and Cullen (organ/vocals) instantly involve ears in a barrage of meaty and eager rhythms as the Hammond-esque tones of Cullen’s organ dances alongside. An emerging and lively blend of sixties garage rock/pop and blues infested psych devilry; the song starts as a fuzzy yet relatively controlled proposal but the passing minutes see a loco element brewing and subsequently bringing even more riveting discord and unpredictability to a rousing song and climax. As well as a tasty part of the single, The Roaring 20’s also provides a myriad of reasons to explore Archie and the Bunkers more and to check out their first album.
now. Coming out of Arhus, brothers and string distorting guitarists/musicians Kim Kix and the Atomic Child are one of kind. Musically they seem bred from the same genes and inspired by the likes of Hasil Adkins, Charlie Feathers, and the Cramps, but as proven by their handful of albums, the duo defy one style, a single sound, and any tries to pin them down. Powersolo get the body shaking and swerving while the senses and psyche are being violated, all with delicious effect, and Fuzz Face, their contribution to the split, is no exception.
Country and rockabilly strands entwine the following Lovely Homes, skittery beats laying an eventful canvas for the smouldering dark charm of air and narrative of voice to conjure upon. Guitars and bass only add to the increasing drama, spawning a Helldorado like theatre that once having seduced ears and enjoyment, steps straight into the unbalanced horseplay of Pretty Please! which quickly has feet and thoughts jumping like a psychotic mix of Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers and Johnny Kidd and The Pirates with an added twist of The Dancing Did.