Issue #003 (March 2003) Hangedup - Kicker in Tow (Constellation/Inertia) Email this article to a friend Like jocks and nerds in a school yard, Rock and violins don’t tend to associate. This prejudice has never applied to the output of Montreal’s Constellation records, their flagship group Godspeed You! Black Emperor has had a string section since its inception, and has used the underlying abrasive nature of orchestral strings to great effect in their excursions into rock’s sublime core. As Hangedup, Genevieve Heistek (violins) and Eric Craven (drums) have taken this lead and reduced it to two of its main elements – rhythmic fluidity and harmonic tension. They state their intentions early, from the first bar of the aptly titled ‘Kinetic Work’, the staccato strings hurry along, pushed by Craven’s busily off-kilter but appropriate stick work and the edgy chord progression created by the multi-tracked strings. These Godspeed style epics are interspersed by impressionist sonic sketches that range from soundtracks to desolation to glib workbook exercises, and they achieve varying succes. Despite an interesting premise and Craven's singular voice as a drummer, the whole shebang lacks polish. Like much of the material that has appeared recently from Constellation and from the Hotel2Tango studio (particularly the side projects) it seems unfinished and overly reliant on the assumed beauty of flawed takes. Mistakes can be as charming as a gap in a smile, but rarely do they make an ugly face pretty. DH