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REVIEW this Garrett Linck, Abodes of Owls
(SELF-RELEASED CD, DIGITAL DOWNLOAD)
In August 2013, Hinesburg-based indie rockers Wolcot released their farewell record, Coronado EP. That recording was a follow-up to the then-high schoolers’ 2011 self-titled debut, and realized much of that album’s budding promise. But, as it goes with so many young bands, Wolcot were seduced by the promise of greener musical pastures elsewhere. Its members left Vermont post-graduation to pursue fresh adventures such as college, new bands and that time-honored youthful
pastime, screwing around. Wolcot front man Garrett Linck landed in Portland, Ore., where, according to his Bandcamp page, he’s “attempting to grow a beard and start a band.” Insert “Portlandia” joke here. Linck’s soon-to-be-released solo debut, Abodes of Owls, suggests he should do just fine in the land of M. Ward and the Decemberists. Not to mention a city that now claims famed transplants such as Stephen Malkmus, Modest Mouse and Spoon’s Britt Daniel, all of whom seem to be among Linck’s formative influences. Recorded in Burlington by Ryan Power, Linck’s freshman solo outing picks up where Coronado left off, delivering a solid take on slackerly indie rock that portends a bright future for the Vermont expat. The four-song EP opens on “Between the Banks.” A sinewy lead guitar line tumbles over moody distortion sustains, building tension beneath Linck’s coolly disaffected vocals. Then the song explodes in a storm of overdriven indie rock before washing out into a hypnotic, shoegaze-y groove. The next track is a cover of “Heart of Darkness” by Sparklehorse. Linck
transforms the song from sparse bedroom pop to uptempo indie jangle. But, even given its enchanting, Pavement-y slant, Linck manages to retain the song’s melancholy mood. “Thirty Degrees and Raining,” the album’s only acoustic number, is next. Stripped of the muscular trappings of his preceding songs, Linck proves to be a commanding writer, even with little more than a guitar and melodica at his disposal. EP closer “Overlook Park” continues the overcast mood, with Linck’s creaky vocals floating amid a haze of spectral guitars. He has a natural knack for building suspense, and does so here to great effect. Drawn out ever so purposefully over a Built to Spill-worthy six-plus minutes, the song is a classic indie slow burn, using mounting guitar effects to build to an anthemic climax, both for the song and the EP itself. Abodes of Owls by Garrett Linck is available at garretlinck.bandcamp.com. DAN BOLLES
SCAN THIS PAGE WITH LAYAR TO LISTEN TO TRACKS
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John Creech, Remember
(SELF-RELEASED, CD, DIGITAL DOWNLOAD)
YOUR TEXT HERE
02.12.14-02.19.14
Say you saw it in...
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2/11/14 1:49 PM
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such as Club Metronome and the nowdefunct Club Toast with his band Cloud People. Since then, he’s been gigging regularly in a variety of roles with other notable local players all over the state. Creech is not a fixture, exactly, but more a player who haunts the margins. That’s a position he sometimes assumes even on his own record. To craft Remember, Creech enlisted the help of some fine local talent, including guitarist Bob Wagner, bassist Aram Bedrosian, keyboardist Peter Krag, drummer Pete Negroponte and harmonica whiz Greg Izor, among others. To be sure, Creech seizes numerous opportunities to showcase his own guitar chops on these mostly instrumental compositions. But rather than dominating the spotlight, his playing is part of a larger tableau — a wise
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Before we discuss the merits of local songwriter John Creech’s latest solo record, Remember, let’s address an elephant in the room: It’s kinda old. As in, it came out in 2010. “So why review it now?” you might ask. It’s a fair question. For starters, when Creech wrote and recorded the record, he was in the throes of losing his primary enterprises: first Vermont Folk Instruments, then Burlington Guitar and Amp. As Creech’s wife, artist Emily Bissell Laird, puts it in a recent email, he “didn’t do much PR as he was focusing on the demise of his businesses.” It’s understandable that pimping the album would get lost in the shuffle. Still, three-plus years later, why not just let the album fade into the past? Here’s the important point: Because Remember is an intriguing album and, as the saying goes, better late than never. Creech has been an active member of the Vermont music scene dating at least back to the 1990s, when he played clubs
choice, given the caliber of his supporting cast. Collectively, Creech’s compositions represent a sort of jam-inflected new-age style. They alternate from the pastoral (“Autumn”) to the ethereal (“5,6,7”) to the outright groovy (“The Dance”). On each, SCAN THIS PAGE he displays a gift for writing hooks that WITH LAYAR return with force even on some of the SEE PROGRAM COVER more languid jams. The uptempo “1 in 3,” for example, skitters between stylistically diverse sections, each slyly shaded by whatever instrument is taking the lead at a given point. But whether blissing out to Negroponte’s fluid keystrokes, bootstomping to Adrian Unser’s high-flying fiddle or noodle-dancing to Creech’s own guitar stylings, the cleverly omnipresent melodic theme keeps the song in balance. John Creech is reportedly devoting more of his creative efforts to making music. We’re told he has a new recording12v-spencerstobacco021214.indd 1 project on tap, which we’ll hope to review before the next Winter Olympics come around. In the meantime, listening in on Remember is a worthwhile endeavor. Remember by John Creech is available on iTunes and CD Baby.
2/11/14 11:17 AM