Forming in Adelaide almost a decade ago A Tenuous Thread is the debut album for The Silvermine Tapes. It’s a little experimental, a little noodling and whimsical, a little lo-fi and a little prog. Rather than rush and pump out a half-baked or poorly recorded album this 7 piece decided to take their time and it has paid off. Despite the apparent sporadic nature of recording the album on occasional weekends over 5 years the record has a particular depth, calm, clarity and coherence. Perhaps it’s the Wurlitzer, glockenspiel, melodicas, cello and sitar next to the more traditional drums, guitars and bass, or perhaps it’s that it was recorded onto analogue tape, but this record has a particular warmth, charm and perhaps almost playfulness that’s not frequent in prog-ish instrumental groups. Of course there are a couple of tunes that really bust out the guitars and bass, but it wouldn’t be a prog record if that wasn’t the case. Prior to the release of this debut LP they’d already secured gigs performing along-sides the likes of Smog, Richard Buckner, Machine Translations, Wil Oldham and the Tren Brothers. A band that takes their time, but does what they do well.
Anna Burns
