Proving that it’s still possible to crack the music biz thang from the grass roots up, London trio RAYOGRAPHS have been working their way up the ladder for the past couple of years. Reception to their two limited edition 7” singles ‘Hidden Doors’ and ‘Francis’ has been positive going on rapturous and while the buzz surrounding them isn’t deafening as yet, there’s certainly a frisson of expectation as their eponymous debut album arrives.
Recorded with highly-regarded underground producer John Hannon (Upset the Rhythm, Vets in Hong Kong) somewhere in deepest Essex, ‘Rayographs’ is an elusive beast. The name comes from pioneering artist Man Ray’s method of surrealist photography where an item is placed directly onto paper without the use of a negative, often resulting in strange juxtapositions of objects. It’s not been chosen at random either, for ‘Rayographs’ paints on a sonic canvas where the linear and the surreal morph and re-assemble, sometimes with striking results.
With this in mind, ‘Providence, Rhode Island’ is perhaps the record’s key track. Its subject matter is the late Francesca Woodman: a highly talented photographer best known for her black & white female images which were arranged so the subjects often merged with their surroundings. The music reflects a similar approach; by turns dark, sinuous and full of skewed possibility.
It’s this tightrope walking between Pop and abstraction which helps ‘Rayographs’ best moments stand out. It’s easy enough to hear the persistent Breeders and PJ Harvey comparisons on tracks like ‘My Critical Mind’ and the startling opener ‘In Her Light’ but ultimately these are merely signposts to altogether weirder places, as songs like ‘3 Times’ and the nightmarish, but compelling ‘November’ so thrillingly prove.
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Rayographs certainly aren’t afraid of Pop either. Built around Jess Tierney’s insistent bass line, Amy Hurst’s nagging, Neu-like drumming and Astrid Steehouder’s eerily disconnected voice, ‘Space of the Halls’ could easily be a cross-over shoegaze-y indie hit, while the urgent riffing of ‘Marazion’ suggests The Stooges may also feature on the stereo chez Rayographs.
Occasionally the experimentation gets out of hand. The looped, woodwind-assisted abstraction of ‘Falconberg Court’ simply irritates, while the risky decision to swap instrumentation on the closing ‘You Are Made of Glass’ also backfires as the track descends into fragmented free-form. It’s a whimper of an ending and disappointing when the trio have already demonstrated how much clout they can wield as a unit.
Still, no pain and no gain and all that. ‘Rayographs’ has its’ flaws and in some cases goes out of its’ way to display them, but at its’ best it shows its’ creators can deftly meld elements of psychedelia, dream pop, folk and all out Rock and sculpt something truly original. They’re not quite there yet, but given a little time I’d bet on Rayographs leaving quite a mark.
Rayographs on MySpace
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