Imagine if Black Rebel Motorcycle Club had lived up to their potential.
Instant Everything, Constant Nothing is an exercise in elaborate garage rock, and it's an interesting one at that. 'ËœNot Fences, Mere Masks' sounds like The Cooper Temple Clause when they were good, but better. It pulsates through a multitude of aggressive, slightly awkward riffs, lurching into a new idea every few seconds, not too far off being a megamix. There's not a second to get bored.
'Unsilvered Mirrors' is a sinister, shoe-gazing number, as bleak as Liars, if a tiny bit more accessible. 'These Dead Birds' adds a spit-heavy layer of aggression to proceedings, in and amongst the dominant mournful elements. To describe each song is to miss a whole host of other things. There's so much going on, so many different moods and styles that by no means sounds disjointed.
'Take Time For Always' in an uncomfortably frantic, shouty effort made compulsive by everything else that is going on in the background. It briefly slams on the brakes, before meandering its' way back to the verse all over again. It's clearly the best song on an album full of contenders. 'Bye-Bye Bi-Polar' has the expected loud-quiet stand-off, but it's done very well. The words are irrelevant, the music supports the title perfectly.
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Throughout there are hints of bands that have gone before, who must have shared the same influences as BRMC, The Vines, The Cooper Temple Clause, The Von Bondies, Mansun and their forefathers. But it's about taking those influences and running with them, creating these complex, mental tapestries. It's complicated enough to please the art-rock crowd, as well as perhaps ensnaring the hearts of some of the NME crowd.Â
Diversity, innovation and range. It sounds like the start to some smug wanker's CV, or how The Body Shop might choose to market themselves at some point in the future. But it's also three qualities that are on display on this sometimes remarkable album. Prog-garage is here, people. This might be the thing to for those who just can't bear to hear another Mars Volta album.
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