Dundee

WILDHOUSE - Ficca EP (30 mins)


Around thirty minutes of music, with 3 short tracks and 1 eighteen minute monster of a track. Musically we're talking Can-Neu-Velvet Underground, not only at their finest, but even eclipsed. Opening with the title track, you hear Sheila's massive drumming, here working on two floor-mounted drums and drumming standing up, that immediately grabs your attention as you'll swear you've come into some lost vintage Neu or Can album. Over this, a swirling sea of guitar layers, textures, chords and chimes is heard from the two guitarists, the band being simply a trio of two guitarists and drummer. Over this, a brief male vocal wafts in sounding like the guy out of New Order, and just perfect in context of the music, but then the vocal stops while the drumming intensity continues, the guitars soar and climb, then out of nowhere this searing electric lead guitar scorches into view with a solo that will have the hairs standing on the back of your neck, as all around the drumming and guitars cruise towards the all-too-soon final moments.
The even shorter 'String Theory' is similar, only less guitar intense, here with a more early Velvets quality to another, even briefer vocal, Sheila's drumming on fire and on top, while the sound of chiming Neu-esque guitars suddenly becomes enveloped in a glorious squall of feedback, this whole section coming around again after, and ending in a blaze of lead guitar, fuzzed guitar howl, feedback and massive drumming thunder - simply awesome and the best three minutes you'll hear.
If all this didn't have you in raptures, the next track will leave you a dribbling wreck, as the full might of the band is unleashed on the 18 minute 'Vanilla' where the combination of acres upon acres of guitars - textural, layered, squalls, fuzzed, sonic Krautrock attack, feedback howls and fiery leads - soar, dive and flow over the monumental drumming attack that is unleashed, and as musical cauldrons go, this one is red hot, on fire and infinitely enjoyable. The drumming pace starts at thunderous, decelerates, then drives even faster before alternating rhythmic intensity as the guitars soar, layers unfold and disappear to leave wondrously chiming, melodic sections, as the pace picks up once more, the guitars gather strength and the whole thing builds to boiling point, while your head is a smoking ruin somewhere between heaven and the endless depths of the universe. Dinger, Rother, Liebezeit and all, in their most intense outings, would surely have killed to have been able to sound like this - it's utter musical nirvana, and turned way up loud has an effect like no other. If you like this, then you have got to see the band live, because it's this magnified a hundred times - and is the most awesome sound you'll come across in this musical context. The final track on the EP is a complete contrast, as a two minute slice of early seventies Dead-meets-Velvets style alt-country ensues, but even this is founded on that solid drumming as the chiming Byrds-like guitars cruise over the Garcia-like vocal and female backing vocal, again just perfect in the context and feel of a truly groundbreaking, remarkable and timeless musical tour-de-force that is this EP -stunning doesn't even come close!!!

The Wildhouse

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