Portland, Oregon-based duo Alan Grosvenor and Scott Worley’s creative partnership as Jatun first began after their initial meeting back in 2004, the two immediately beginning to work together on writing songs, before spending much of 2006 hunkered down in the studio recording this self-titled debut album. Comprised of 13 tracks over a total running time of just over an hour, this debut collection shows Jatun conjuring up a slowburning fusion of synth-driven shoegazer rock that calls to mind the majestic nocturnal swell of M83, whilst also hinting at the sorts of gliding motorik landscapes explored by the likes of Junior Boys and Fujiya & Miyagi.
Opener ‘Ghost And Grey’ certainly brings the aforementioned comparisons to M83 to the forefront, with a vast wash of melancholy-sounding vintage synths and treated guitar giving way to icy, skittering beat programming and Scott Worley’s wistful pop vocals, the addition of some colourful electro synths nicely counterpointing the darker shades lurking below. From there, ‘Ion Crush’ opens with a majestic synthetic swell of delayed-out tones that’s reminiscent of Brian Eno’s epic intro to U2’s ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, howling guitar tones slowly emerging out the dense fog of ambience as distant vocal harmonies trace through like ghosts. ‘Zombie Hotel’ meanwhile manages to build spacious New Wave-kissed atmosphere, placing booming downtempo rhythms beneath a backdrop of vintage synths that sit somewhere between ‘Black Celebration’ Depeche and ISAN’s warm analogue tones, Worley’s FX-laden vocals sounding like they’ve been beamed in from space as they trace their way through the brittle-sounding electronics.
By contrast, ‘Bee Bee’ offers up one of this collection’s more rock-centred moments, with a thick wall of guitar fuzz providing textural backing for howling fretboard bends and stiff-sounding drum programming, the MBV-esque wash of amp feedback injecting just the right undertone of chaotic noise into the comparatively gentle synths. It’s certainly epic stuff, and Jatun manage to maintain the interest factor over this debut’s hour-long running length, though to be fair, a sense of repetition does start to creep in at points, with the same predominant moods and instrumental textures being present throughout much of the 13 tracks here. Still, these minor considerations aside, this is certainly an extremely impressive debut that’s likely to be well received by fans of the likes of M83, Dntel and the Morr Music roster.
Chris Downton
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