Manchester Punk Festival Releases 37th Compilation
Manchester Punk Festival have released the 37th volume of their compilation series ahead of this year’s festival. Manchester Punk Festival Vol. 37 is…
Warmer Shadow - Carpark Records / Buzz Records
What can you say about an album whose choice of cover art is the same as your great aunts choice of wallpaper? Warm Shadow is a strange beast of an album and is a companion piece to Greys’ acclaimed sophomore album, Outer Heaven, that was released back in April. Warm Shadow is comprised of original material by the band, as well as elements from the Outer Heaven recording sessions. The album was released via Bandcamp on October 5th, via Carpark Records and Buzz Records.
Warm Shadow is a sprawling experimental album that combines elements of garage, psychedelia, punk, and pretty much everything else that’s from the dark underbelly of the music world, to create an experimental soundscape. The album opens with Minus Team, this is a dark Sonic Youth inspired noisefest that opens proceedings nicely, UberEats starts as a piece of minimalist power pop, before exploding into fully fledged storm of grungy distortion that in turn abruptly turns into a surreal ending of tape loops and effects. I’d Hate To Be An Actress is a dark lo-fi slice of melancholy discord, and that’s only over the first three tracks. The album continues to change constantly, veering madly between styles and retaining a level of unpredictability that makes this a truly original and challenging album.
An album this varied and unusual is never going to be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s doubtful that even their die hard fans would admit to liking everything on this album, every single track is unique and unusual, and a lot more experimental than it’s sister album. Warm Shadow is the perfect companion to Outer Heaven, whilst that album could never be described as mainstream or in any way, shape or form pop, that is what it sounds like compared to Warm Shadow, this is the sound of a band exploring their dark and experimental side, and they do it well. For anyone who likes their albums to be unpredictable and mind expanding then this this is something you need to explore, for me it’s best enjoyed alongside Outer Heaven but it works equally well as a separate and dark entity. Warm Shadow will be available as a Pay What You Can download on Bandcamp through October 12th, and all proceeds during this time will be donated to Toronto non-profit Sistering. Sistering is a trans-inclusive agency supporting women from across Toronto who experience first hand the impact of marginalization and poverty.
Warm Shadow can be downloaded here