Apricot Rail has this post rock instrumental lark down pat. As if some fresh breezes wafted down from the West Australian wheat belt this quintet play the line between rock, instrumental soundscape and a border edged skirmish with pop and experimental. The album saunters open momentarily before the axe’s fall on what could very well become another melodic grunge pop outfit however it is a flourish as Apricot Rail move towards a considered, honed sound. It is almost as if on their first outing they have achieved a ‘mature sound’ without having to go through the teething stages of raw visceral grunge . However they change again and ‘A Public Space’ introduces complex guitar melodies, a second movement with arpeggiated guitar, pause and back into a slow build textured clarinet melancholy followed by a free jazz explosion.
‘If you can’t join them, beat them’ is almost the clarion call of the groups idea, a densely textured sound highlighting the idea of the band as a form of orchestration, tight interplay and weaving of elements without the insistence of singularity to dull the colours. The one vocal track ‘Car Crash’ writes its familiar imagery discretely, emphasis blunting reception before the bleak refrain of “I hope you die in a car crash”, a hail of power chords ensues drowning their pleasantries. So they may not be poets yet they have a charm that rock has not entertained for a long time and the movement towards an orchestral sound makes for axe murders. With the interesting tunings of the guitar, the giddy delight of intricacies and nuance of instrument voices, an excellent hold on movement between stylistic patterns as flourishes and displays of control Apricot Rail seem intent to prove that rock and roll may not die but may well usurp itself into the academy.
Innerversitysound
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