Sometimes when a new band comes along, their music is just so affecting that it's like they grabbed you by the ears, slammed you face-first into the table at which you were sitting and then kissed you hard on the mouth while you were still trying to collect yourself and figure out what happened. The sensation is profound; it's shocking and fantastic and violent and inspiring and, when it happens, those who are stricken by it will find themselves just left gazing, starry-eyed, because there is just no other way to respond at first. It goes without saying that moments like those don't happen every day but, when they do, it's excellent and magical; you can't actively seek those experiences out, but they're awesome when they come to you. That's the kind of moment which comes when, after seething out a guitar figure that just bleeds passion and introducing himself with images of both living and loving fast and walking the line which sees some dying young, co-singer Peter Dreimanis growls out the words “I'm not asking for your love, I'm just askin' what your love is gonna take” in a tone steeped in whiskey and gravel before stuttering ecstatically into an explosive and orgiastic boogie woogie nightmare. It's a phenomenal moment (the sort you're never the same after experiencing) and, just in case you missed it, listeners are hit again right away with the sweet, “straight outta wartime” voice, style and demeanor of co-singer Leah Fay which both compliments and contrasts Dreimanis' scorched throat. The result is like the duets Tom Waits did with Crystal Gayle thirty years ago or the ones Johnny Cash did with June Carter before that – but made even better and more exciting by the fact that it would be impossible to mistake this sound for anything other than brand new; July Talk is a rockabilly-infused, soul-soaked, post-punk creature all its own which hits listeners hopped up on a healthy dose of pop for good measure.
An introduction like the one served up by “The Garden” leaves no mistake that it is the work of an ambitious band, but July Talk doesn't back down or pause to get noticed after they've blown minds right off the bat. Rather, they keep seeding more new stylistic hybrids into the nine tracks which follow that first explosion. Hints of gothic dance club darkness color “Guns + Ammunition” and a clear love of rockabilly characterizes “Paper Girl” while some strains of Motown mark “Brother” (the bass line almost sounds like a sample from “My Girl” by The Temptations, in fact) to get a few solid foundations set before the album diversifies even further and incorporates elements all of those sounds and more into songs including “Let Her Know,” “Don't Call Home” and “I've Rationed Well” (which incorporates some of the spirit of Ennio Morricone too).
Listeners will certainly find it easy to be swept away by the torrential mix of sounds and, with all of the directions in which July Talk reaches through its run-time, it would be easy for readers to assume that the record might actually be too ambitious for its own good – but July Talk's ace in the hole is the combination of voices supplied by Dreimanis and Fay. Throughout the album, the duo keeps its billing as “singer” equal without fail, and the co-operative interplay which develops as they throw the mic back and forth is the tie which holds the record together; wherever they go and whichever sounds they pick up along the way the singers are always present equally – thereby effectively implying that no song on the record (and, by extension, the record itself) could exist as they do without both present. That sense of co-operative necessity and the unique form it awards these songs is incredibly captivating and will have those who find July Talk waiting breathlessly for the chance to experience this band live first, and then to see what they come up with for a follow up. As far as anything the band does next goes, I have no idea how the band plans to top what they've created here, but July Talk has my vote for Record Of The Year, at least.
Artist:
www.julytalk.com/
www.myspace.com/julytalk
www.facebook.com/julytalk
www.twitter.com/julytalk
Download:
July Talk – s/t – “Paper Girl” – [mp3]
Album:
July Talk does not currently have an American release date, but the CD will be available as a Canadian import via White Girl Records and EMI Music Canada on October 16, 2012. The vinyl edition of the record comes out on October 30, 2012. Pre-order the CD here and the LP here on Amazon.
