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The Tenebrous Liar's follow up to Jackknifed And Slaughtered
Out Now.
Entitled Run Run Run. Available on CD, Vinyl and Download.
Again produced and mixed by Richard Warren.
Thursday
23rd February
The Electric Ballroom
With PULLED APART BY HORSES
A
desolate road through a remote mountainous pass, in an indeterminate
location, is the ominous cover image of Run Run Run. The highway
is leading to an uncertain destination, as the darkening sky presages
forbidding storms ahead. As ever, The Tenebrous Liar front man Steve
Gullick's black and white photography captures perfectly the atmosphere
of the brooding music that The Tenebrous Liar have created within
the sleeve on hot wax. In fact, the cover artwork resembles more
a motion picture soundtrack sleeve than a conventional rock record,
which is somehow very fitting for The Tenebrous Liar.
Very much a companion record to their previous 2010 Jackknifed &
Slaughtered LP, Run Run Run further hones down and intensifies The
Tenebrous Liar's singular musical assault. Once again helmed by
the gifted producer, Richard Warren (Soulsavers/Spiritualized),
a renowned singer/songwriter/recording artist in his own right,
the compelling Run Run Run brilliantly reflects the very real fears
and tensions that enveloped the band during the album's recording
period, when the combo lived in the studio in which they where actually
working.
Run Run Run opens with the suitably cinematic and propulsive 'Theme
Tune', a desperate flight from somewhere or someone, and the destination
is 'Out'. The song 'Out' is a desperate plea for release,
powered by over driven, tattered guitars, powerhouse drums and an
insistent vocal screamed from the very pits of despair. Lithe drums
and sinuous bass introduce 'The Sickness', a slow paced blues punctuated
by cascades of molten rock guitar action from Tony Ash. 'Desire',
swathed in shimmering, twanging guitar that echoes the sounds that
were attendant at the birth of Rock 'N' Roll, sets a course for
the open motorway, before 'Western Skies' start to cast a long portentous
shadow, with broiling guitar salvos shattering the slinky furrow
dug by Casey's bass and Glendining's drums.
Side Two of Run Run Run opens by way of the pointed rock riff onslaught
of 'Primed Lined And Centred'. "Smacked in the face by reality,"
sings Gullick, with Ash, Casey and Glendining backing up his statement
musically every step of the crooked way. Heavy bass and blistering
guitar interjections mark the arrival of 'Angel'. Whether
the seraph in question is mortal or immortal, benevolent or malevolent,
is definitely open to question.
'Realise' commences with a crashing hypnotic riff. This locked down
weighty groove, ever descending into murky stygian depths, is broken
for a passage for Gullick's heartfelt importuning. Then 'Realise'
starts slithering forward again with renewed force, soon erupting
into waves of fractious feedback and blasted white heat noise.
A raucous clap of shaken amplifier thunder hails a fast, distorted
reprise of a flagellated take of 'Desire' before the album closes
with the bittersweet and reflective 'Gaze Upon The Sea'. Steadily
gaining momentum and passionate intensity, 'Gaze Upon The Sea' churns
onwards towards an ill-omened silence. Will it be broken?
Richard Warren's attention to detail in the concentrated recording
process of creating Run Run Run has resulted in an additional clarity
of sound and sense of purpose to The Tenebrous Liar. As a
consequence of having produced Jackknifed & Slaughtered just
ten months beforehand, Richard Warren has helped them perfect their
formidably potent resonance. Highly vigourous drummer Tom
Glendining is now firmly established within the ranks of the group,
making the increasingly seismic Tenebrous Liar an even stronger
unit than ever before.
But perversely a dread of the collapse of the band, due to numerous
unforeseen circumstances, perhaps fuels the utter commitment and
authoritative tone of Gullick's song writing and the much darker
music, barely contained within the grooves of Run Run Run, than
previously featured on Jackknifed & Slaughtered. Throughout
Run Run Run the band appear much less easily appeased than on Jackknifed
& Slaughtered and their shared desire to push ever further forward
musically/sonically is pre-eminent throughout the album's duration.
A dreamlike combination of searing guitar flare-ups and melodic
compositions, Run Run Run holds the listener's attention from start
to finish. The fact that many of the songs on Run Run Run were rehearsed
extensively before going into the studio, where they were then recorded
in a maximum of three takes, as well as performed live on numerous
tours of the UK and Europe supporting the likes of Nick Cave, Bonnie
Prince Billy, Soulsavers and Josh T. Pearson has strengthened the
band's considerable emotional impact. While consumed with
tempestuous anger and rage, Run Run Run never loses sight of the
power of melodious seduction.
Run Run Run reaffirms The Tenebrous Liar's position as one of the
most dynamic and uncompromising bands currently operating.
Be sure to catch them performing Run Run Run live soon.
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