Relics is the debut album of a young Danish quartet who already play with a rare and unified sense of purpose. As can be heard here, they use their carefully honed skills in the service of a collective sound that fully deserves that often-overused term, unique.
What you won’t hear are exactly the things that most rock bands depend upon. Andreassen and Ulrich are hyper-intellectualized exponents of what Keith Richards once called "the ancient art of weaving", bringing two-guitar interplay to new levels of complexity and sophistication. At times bassist Janus Bagh takes on the timekeeping duties of a bass drum or orchestral timpani, while Høi’s carefully tuned drums embrace melody.
Ulrich has developed a very personal style of playing in which he often smacks the strings to elicit floating harmonic clouds. Andreassen, in turn, plays almost exclusively finger-style, using different muting techniques to get dry, percussive sounds that are reminiscent of the lutes and idiophones he encountered while studying and travelling in West Africa.
It’s as if Antistatic is a rock band that’s been repurposed as a percussion ensemble, an observation the musicians happily accept.
Søren Høi drums
Laust Moltesen Andreasen guitar
Mads Ulrich guitar
Janus Bagh bass
Recommmended if you like: Steve Reich, Glenn Branca, Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, Schnellertollermeier
