Killington Fall – Keep Your Eyes to the Sea (Self Released)
4/5
Ok, I’m going to admit it; I’m not actually that into post-rock. I know it’s a cool thing you’re meant to like, and I know it’s probably one of the last subcultures of modern music that’s been left relatively untouched by the mainstream, but often it just leaves me a bit cold. I bought a Mogwai album when I was 15 and thought it a pleasing enough listen but nothing that set my world alight, I tried 65daysofstatic and just wasn’t feeling it – basically, I’m more into bashment than thrashment.
Or maybe I just haven’t been listening to the right stuff. Keep Your Eyes to the Sea, the second EP from South London four-piece Killington Fall, might be a record to, if not sway me to the ways of the post-rock scene, certainly make me consider digging out that copy of Mr Beast again. Ass-kickingly tight for a group so early in its lifespan, the four tracks of Keep Your Eyes… demonstrate a wealth of textural nuance, originality and instrumental accomplishment that a significant chunk of major-label acts of any genre would struggle to emulate.
Virtually lyricless, the EP’s 20-odd minute runtime sees the band tackle and tame a broad palette of soundscapes, moving from boddy-popping grooves to mesmeric ambience and taking the scenic route back again. The dual guitar-work of Max Templer and Cameron Stewart binds together to great effect, whether it’s the harmoniously fluid breakdown of ‘Two Surrendered Flags’ or the bludgeoning, beautiful assault of mammoth closer ‘Eventide, the Dark’.
The rhythm section does more than its fair share too, neither overwhelming the texture nor taking a backseat while the lead instruments do all the work. Indeed, at times the rhythm section seems to become the focal point of the texture – see the mesmeric, half-remembered drums of ‘Stable Waves’ or the ribbons of bass that wrap around those licks on ‘… Flags’.
Ebbing and flowing as a body rather than individual tracks, Keep Your Eyes to the Sea holds the listener captive to its depths and intricacies. For a band that is still arguably in the teething stages (Templer only became a full-time member of the band this year), the EP is both exceedingly bold and a carrot on a stick for new fans – what they do next will be very interesting indeed. Now, where’s that Mogwai record got to…
Ghost Rockets by Killington Fall
Artists in this article: Killington Fall
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