Album Type: Full Length
Date
Released: 24/01/2020
Label: eOne Music
“Dream
in Motion” CD//DD//LP
track listing:
1).
Dream in Motion
2).
Hollow Dying Man
3).
Once Again
4).
Enemy in Disguise
5).
The World You Know
6).
Toxic
7).
The Healing
8).
Necropolis
9).
The Ugly Truth
10).
Aqualung
The Review:
Kirk Windstein is certainly an
underground legend- Crowbar, Down, working with Jamey Jasta- his has quite a curriculum vitae. His debut solo LP
proper (nothwithstanding the Jasta pairing) is a very intriguing
proposition. Crowbar
are heavier than lead and as sludgy as a swamp; what can Windstein bring to the table beyond that. Well, as keen fans will
know, Windstein is a big fan of 70s
rock and classic songwriting. Certainly, opener “Dream in Motion” is weighty and swampy but it is also hooky and
surprisingly... breezy. As the album unfolds, you get a definite sense that
this is not Crowbar
Mk. II but is instead a kind of mid point between Kirk's influences and his Alma mater.
Over
the course of “Hollow Dying Man” and
“Once Again”, there is actually
plenty of darkness but a little more light than you might expect. The latter is
dreamy and ethereal in sound- akin to Mastodon at their most mellow. From there,
there is plenty of clean guitar on offer on “Enemy In Disguise” and again it is not huge riffing that draws you
in, but the dreamlike spacey quality of the sound. The melancholy vibes
continue on through “The World You Know”-
as do the melodies. It's like a stripped bare Crowbar with the melodies pushed
to the fore while the riffs take a back seat.
There
is heaviness and riffage, of course, “Toxic”
provides that in spades and comes on strong with its doomy sludge but it also
has a lighter side as the dynamics are pushed. Windstein's usual themes of self loathing and desperation are
apparent, as per, but with some of the sounds there is also hope. Even the
title of “The Healing” states this
explicitly. It has quiet and loud dynamics and is a worthy instrumental piece. “Necropolis” is again lighter and akin
to almost shoegaze type material... were it not for the glacial tempo and
inherent darkness.
By
the time of the album's latter stages, it has become clear that Windstein wanted to make an album that
didn't rely on brute force but instead let the melodic hooks bring the weight
and create atmosphere through an air filled production and reverb combined with
the clean sounds on offer. “The Ugly
Truth” is a fine example of that ethos and then there is only the Jethro Tull
cover of “Aqualung” to finish
things. It's a fine cover and a solid snapshot of what perhaps Windstein was invoking over the course
of the record; Tull
were always not really one thing or another. They weren't rock, folk, pop, hard
rock, rock n roll, jazz, blues or anything else but were instead a combination
of all those things and created startling music, particularly through their 60s
and 70s heyday.
Windstein, then, has a created a
mellow and dynamic album with lots of light and dark. It wouldn't have worked
as a Crowbar
record, so his venturing outside of that stricture is to be commended. A good
and worthwhile solo record.
“Dream in
Motion” is
available HERE
Band
info: bandcamp
