BARK PSYCHOSIS

SCUM EP

Also released in 1992, the second release from BARK PSYCHOSIS was the SCUM EP which ratcheted the band's sound much closer to what would be experienced on the full-length debut "Hex." This is a one-track song type of EP which features the title track extending past the 21-minute playing time.

SCUM engaged in the use of extreme dynamics and the use of expansive space as an element to be implemented. The song mixed jazz guitar chords with unusual acoustic drumming techniques and space ambience for the wild and turbulent atmospheres. The vocals appear randomly and the excursions into cosmic ambient drifting crafts starting soundscapes that implement bizarre uses of the guitar to craft feedback and other noisy effects.

The track was totally improvised and recorded live in the band's studio set up in St John's Church. The track has definitely reached full post-rock status and after a placid first part that lulls you in with an almost lullaby innocence, by the time the track gets half way through the track has built up to strange ambient noise, random reverberations and slow clamoring guitar feedback intensity. The band were masters of crafting sounds that were unrecognizable.

Apparently BARK PSYCHOSIS rented special equipment that would process sounds and twist them into irregular and oft jagged morsels of unrecognizability. The track masters of art of drifting aimlessly through a vast soundscape that maintains a consistent flow but offers new motifs to emerge from those that simply fade away. Whether it's a simple drum accompanied by a slow piano or a chamber jazz section accompanied by a drone effect and field recordings. The contrast is start and utterly unlike anything else that existed at the time.

As the middle part chills out for a while towards the end the harsh noisy effects slowly ooze into the soundscape with the drumming slowly ratcheting up the tempo incrementally. The cyclical guitar loops, the alien atmospheres, the aloof long piano and noisy distortion conspires to craft one bizarre piece of music that is captivating from beginning to end. There's really little wonder why SCUM has become as revered the band's two full-length albums. This EP is simply genius from beginning to end. The ultimate atmospheric slow ride roller coaster.

— First review of this album —

MANMAN EP

The London based musical project BARK PSYCHOSIS was formed as far back as 1986 and most famous for its 1994 debut album "Hex" which launched the term post-rock into the vernacular. The term was coined by Simon Reynolds in his review of the album and after a review of exactly how the musical style had been evolving, became a new term for an entirely new music genre.

The band had spent many years leading up to this moment though first by releasing a a couple of singles and then following with two short EPs before "Hex" would catch the world's attention and offer the musical world a new genre to expand upon. The first EP was simply called MANMAN and came out in 1992. It featured only three tracks that added up to 19 minutes and 53 seconds ("Manman" 5:03), ("Blood Rush" 7:14), ("Tooled Up" 7:36).

The band's two original members weree schoolfriends Graham Sutton (guitar, vocals) and John Ling (bass, vocals) were only 14 years old at the time they started by the band so by 1992 they were still at the tender age of 20 yet had a completely different vision of where music was heading. Despite "Hex" being considered the first official post-rock release, many artists had actually released albums that now qualify to be labeled under that genre. BARK PSYCHOSIS' early material is no exception.

The title track certainly was heading into post-rock territory but featured influences from techno and digital dance music however the atmospheres, laid back vocals and unorthodox musical arrangements were well on track to a full post-rock sound. This track is basically a minimalistic drum beat accompanied by a swirling synthesized backdrop and with detached apocalyptic vocals. The track breaks into a techno beat that didn't sound far off from bands like New Order or other English electronic acts. The music behind the simple drumming though is ominous and seemingly in another universe completely. It's an interesting mix with some nice vocal contributions of various types.

"Blood Rush" is more of an early post-rock track in its entirety with a dreamy high-pitched intro that slowly ushers in a clean guitar that crafts captivating arpeggios while a bass groove drops in and out. The main emphasis is on the spacey expansive atmosphere and the vocals are subdued and vulnerable. The track remains slow and nuanced with unique contrapuntal techniques that contrast the keyboards with the bass and guitar arpeggios. The tempo picks up about five minutes in and the drums join in but pretty much stays mellow and dreamy.

"Tooled Up" begins with a punch bass groove and is immediately followed by more of a post-punk sound with busy drumming and electric guitar riffing. Turbulent atmospheres swirl around in the background. The dynamics and styles changes around a bit but the strange bass line remains a constant. After three minutes or so the tempo picks up big time and the drumming becomes a bit frenetic. The rest of the instrumentation sounds completely original and i'm not really sure how they achieved it but the guitar is clearly in the realms of post-punk. The atmosphere is never out of range to create the overall mood effect. The track is all instrumental. The track ends in neo-psychedelia mode as the punk guitar drops out and strange sound effects dominate.

This is a brilliantly original EP with three distinct tracks that showcase a band with a vision to develop music beyond what's already been done. Each track delivers a unique stylistic approach and although the middle track would ultimately be the style that would define BARK PSYCHOSIS, the other two tracks are actually more inventive and more varied. The band members clearly were striving to think outside of the box and succeeded in doing so. These early EPs aren't to be missed. They are every bit as captivating as the band's more famous albums that defined them as one of the pioneers of post-rock.

The album that gave birth to a new sub-genre of music: The name "Post Rock" came from some discussions which followed music critic Simon Reynolds' use of this term during his review of Hex. He was using the term to describe the new style of music being produced around 1994 of which Bark Psychosis was one group. To my ears this music sounds just like the music DAVID SYLVIAN was doing ten years before with his string of albums, 1984's Brilliant Trees through 1987's Secrets of the Beehive, especially the vocal stylings and syncopated drum tracks--plus the keyboard/synth work is amazingly reminiscent of RICHARD BARBIERI's work and the guitar parts in "Absent Friend" are Fripp-Sylvian-ish. (So, I have to ask: Where was Simon Reynolds when Sylvian and friends were collaborating on their 1980s ground-breaking and, apparently, ahead-of-their-time music?) While the album is definitely full of scaled down, slowed down, trip-hoppy, acid jazzy, ambient rock, it is also a collection of widely different songs. Most people will recognize in the album's last song, "Pendulum Man" (9:54) (19/20), as a perfect example of the prototypical Post Rock song. I particularly love the album's chamber-trip hoppy-jazz number, "The Loom" (5:16) (a sure tip of the hat to the amazing stuff DAVID SYLVIAN and his drummer-brother, STEVE JANSEN were doing ten years before) (9/10). "Big Shot" (5:21) (10/10) is beautiful and mesmerizing. "Fingerspit" (8:22) (19/20) is, however, the jewel in the crown. Over eight minutes of seemingly random unstructured free form atonal jazz music with many unexpected sounds, noises, and samples thrown in--just because they could.

A masterpiece of a sub-genre and a minor masterpiece of progressive rock music.

Many consider this to be the first Post-Rock album although band leader and singer Graham Sutton was a huge TALK TALK fan and that's the band I thought of right away during my first spin of "Hex". I actually prefer the album they put out 10 years after this but there's no denying that this is an influential album. Sparse, ambient, lots of space are words and phrases that kept coming to mind as I listened to this. Lots of guests here adding vibes, flute, trumpet, djembe along with a string quartet. The main band adds vocals, drums, guitar, bass, organ, piano, melodica and more. I like that album cover as it reminds me of how good this is while listening to it at night while driving.

"The Loom" opens with relaxed piano as strings swell and recede in the background. Bass just before 1 1/2 minutes then drums and vocals join in before 2 minutes. I like the bass, percussion and atmosphere that follows as the vocals step aside. An experimental ending as well. "A Street Noise" opens with percussion and bass then vocals. Some trumpet comes and goes. It turns fuller with vocals just before a minute and contrasts will continue. Keys, bass and a very minimal sound starting after 3 1/2 minutes to the end.

"Absent Friend" has a relaxed start with sparse guitar, a beat and accordion-like sounds. It picks up a little with bass before a minute. Such a chill out tune. I like when the keys arrive making things brighter and they will come and go. Headphone music the rest of the way. Ambient is the word. "Big Shot" is laid back with organ to start. I love when that bass and drums takes over quickly reminding me of that great MOONGARDEN album "Round Midnight" especially when the vibes arrive.

"Fingerspit" opens with keys I think, a beat, atmosphere and reserved vocals. Trumpet around 3 1/2 minutes as the vocals step aside. Bass, drums and more continue. Vocals are back just before 6 minutes along with some rare outbursts of trumpet. It's building. Manipulated vocals after 7 minutes. "Eyes & Smiles" is a tough go, just not a lot going on over the 8 plus minutes. Sparse acoustic guitar to begin with as fragile vocals join in. Lots of space here as discordant piano arrives before 5 minutes along with some outbursts but then it settles right down again. Vocals are back after 5 1/2 minutes. Acoustic guitar is back late to end it with relaxed drums.

"Pendulum Man" ends the album and this is almost 10 minutes of ambience. A guitar line is repeated as atmosphere rolls in. Atmosphere only after 4 minutes but the acoustic guitar returns quickly plus trumpet at 4 1/2 minutes. Organ follows. Sparse and relaxed. Piano and atmosphere lead late.

This will sit nicely beside my later TALK TALK albums. I'm far from being blown away by this minimalist work but I have a great appreciate for it considering it's 1994.

I still remember clearly my first listen to this album. Ninety percent of the time my first listen to a new recording isn't a big deal, i'm just trying to get the feel of the album knowing there will be many more spins before I review it. This one was different though because i'd heard that BARK PSYCHOSIS were considered by many to be the first Post-Rock band, in fact that term "Post-Rock" was first used to describe the music on their debut "Hex". Now unfortunately I wasn't able to track down "Hex" until much later down the road as it was almost impossible to find at the time, so again my first listen to this their sophomore album which was released some ten years after the debut was interesting to say the least.

Bands that came to mind during that first listen were TALK TALK, THE CHURCH and NO-MAN. This wasn't as ambient as I thought it would be although it certainly is that, but we get these powerful atmospheric passages that brought "Together We're Stranger" to mind plus outbursts of noise and feedback at times as well. Male vocals from band leader Graham Sutton lead the way but the female vocals on a few songs really add to the enjoyment. Not surprisingly Lee Harris plays some drums on here, he was the drummer for TALK TALK who most certainly were the band that influenced Graham the most at the time.

"From What Is Said To When It's Read" really brings a song from EMBRYO's "We Keep On" to mind at the start, mainly the male vocals. It eventually drifts along with soft vocals. It's spacey 3 1/2 minutes in then it turns quite powerful. "The Black Meat" is the track that brings THE CHURCH to mind with that jangly sound along with the vocals. Check out the trumpet before 3 minutes sounding like TALK TALK. "Miss Abuse" starts slow but like a train leaving the station it starts to build. Vocals sing out of the darkness as deep bass lines come and go. A change 3 minutes in as the train stops but not for long. "400 Winters" opens with strummed guitar as fragile vocals join in along with vibes. A fuller sound follows and the vibes really bring MOONGARDEN's "Round Midnight" to mind. The bass and backing female vocals are nice touches. Piano only before 5 minutes. "Dr. Innocuous/Retard" is a short one minute piece with experimental sounds, a beat and more leading the way.

"Burning The City" is led by strummed guitar, piano and laid back vocals early on. A beat and vibes join in. A change 2 minutes in as it settles right down as percussion, voices and piano lead. The vibes are back along with some experimental feed-back like sounds that come and go. "INQB8TR" has a heavy atmosphere like something out of the apocalypse to start. A beat kicks in around a minute as the guitar offers up some experimental notes. Vibes and vocals 3 minutes in then more of that powerful atmosphere that comes and goes. Female spoken vocals here as well. Cool tune. "Shapeshifting" opens with drums as guitar, female vocals, organ and more join in. Insanity before 3 1/2 minutes, amazing! It settles back and ends with strange sounds. "Rose" is sparse sounding with floating organ that creates a lot of atmosphere. Female voices come and go.

This really is a must for Post- Rock fans out there who enjoy the other bands i've mentioned in this review. Closer to 4.5 stars in my opinion.

I have heard many times this "Codename:Dustsucker" project and I found it to be quiet a treat. Great song composition and fusion of opposite flavors.... Of course they are not "discovering" this alliances; as Peter Gabriel realized some time ago; and even built a project around it (Real World Records) also of course Mexican and Brazilian proggers to name some. So it is not necessary to overblow this "attribute" about this band. Creativily speaking, song-wise; they pull up some amazing acts. The clash of opposites works out perfectly; so it is not mere latin- fusion; it makes sense; it has direction and I insist; great songwriting!.... So; is it essential in the ageless archives of progressive music ? (the famed 4 stars) Well; if it was not for the fact; that every time the male singer sings; I am completely thrown back to the works of David Sylvian after "Japan" to pinpoint it! (now I can affirm; how overlooked and underrated this guy has been to a lot of new prog-bands)... BUT; as soon as the female starts singing; everything returns to planet "Bark Psychosis" again; and it sounds like a different proposal entirely; the whole air is removed and cleaned; and it sounds astounding. So; if you dont mind the "David Sylvian" factor; I suppose for you is a 4 star project. - I am not; in that in that selected crowd; so an effort that could have grown to 4; will remain in 3good-work Stars. Great songwriting: I insist!

It's appropriate that Lee Harris, the drummer and percussionist for late-period Talk Talk, guests on this much-delayed second album by the masterful Bark Psychosis. Both Talk Talk and Bark Psychosis were absolutely key to the foundation of the post-rock subgenre - the term, in fact, was invented by reviewers scrambling for a way to describe the first Bark Psychosis album - but most of the second-tier bands who started playing post-rock once it had coalesced as a genre took their lead not from Talk Talk or Bark Psychosis but from groups such as Mogwai, Sigur Ros and Godspeed You Black Emperor, possibly because it was more readily evident how to mimic those bands' sound whereas Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock and Hex by Bark Psychosis seemed to be the result of brilliant, unrepeatable accidents.

Well, Codename: Dustsucker proves just how wrong that is, in that it manages to be a brilliant continuation of the sound of Hex which, if anything, broadens its horizons (there's some interludes which approach straightforward jazz) whilst at the same time beating most latter-day post-rock groups at their own game. In fact, whilst Hex suggested the manifold possibilities of the post-rock genre, Dustsucker does a far better job at actually realising their potential.

Music writer Simon Reynolds coined the term "post rock" to describe the music on this album. So, technically it could be called the first post rock album. However, there was music by other artists before this that could be now labelled "post rock"; also, most of the latter day post rock groups don't sound too much like this album. Why 'post rock' anyway? There were a number of bands in the early 1990s (mostly instrumental) who were hard to classify: they were too weird and experimental to be just be labelled "alternative." These bands were referred to as 'post rock' because of the lack of riffs, guitar solos and big choruses that are commonly associated with 'rock' music.

Hex has elements that you will find in later post rock, but more importantly elements that you find a lot of in *early* post rock. Along with later Talk Talk and early Tortoise, Bark Psychosis had a jazzy feel to them which would later almost disappear with later, more popular post rock groups. Even though I am on the Post Rock Team I find the majority of post rock boring and derivative. Originally Sigur Ros was the most popular post rock group, but it was Mogwai and Godspeed You Black Emperor who ended up influencing the future of post rock; many a post rock band sound like grade B versions of those two bands. One of the reasons I was invited to join the PR team was because of my knowledge of early post rock and the styles of music that influenced it.

Arpeggios and cross-picking, crescendos and soft-loud dynamics...these are not things you will find a lot of in Hex (although you will find some). The early PR bands were a lot more experimental and adventurous than the majority of the latter day ones. Bark Psychosis were an English band from east London. They started out as a Napalm Death tribute band(!), although the music of BP is almost the polar opposite of the grindcore of that band. Before this album the group, led by one Graham Sutton, released a 21-minute single entitled "Scum." It was a live improvisation of ambient music recorded in a church. Hex was also recorded in that same church because of the natural reverb it offered.

Let us get into the music on this album for now, I'll get into what happened to this group afterwards. This does, to a certain extent, sound like some later post rock but also like later Radiohead. That band was very much grunge-meets-Britpop at the time of this albums recording. I'm still confused as to whether Radiohead influenced Post Rock or vice versa. Maybe they influenced each other? Overall the mood here is mellow and the vocals are some sort of talk-singing, very subdued and not attention grabbing. "The Loom" opens with almost New Age-y piano and some strings. Later subdued vocals (there really isn't any other kind here) with some exotic sounding percussion and atmospheric keys.

"A Street Scene" you can listen to on PA. This starts with some tremolo guitar which sounds like later post rock. The drumming here sounds like some of the drumming on later Radiohead albums. Some trumpet and something close to a 'chorus'(probably one of the reasons this track was picked as a single). Later on goes into a light jazzy post rock-before- post rock vibe. "Absent Friend" has more tremoloed guitar and what sounds like accordions. The dub reggae influenced bass playing (similar to early Tortoise) adds a lot to this track. Later you hear some of the classic arpeggio/cross-picking on guitar which later became mandatory for many PR bands. Some hypnotic yet melodic sequencers and some Tortoise style vibraphones at the end.

"Big Shot" is the standout track for it's dub-y drums & bass and overall atmospherics. Some more vibraphone here. Great production in this track, it really sets a mood. This is the only song on Hex recorded as a trio since one member left (more on that later). "Fingerspit" is more mellow light jazzy ambient rock. Parts of this song sound similar to some of the stuff some 'alternative' bands were doing at the time. Especially when the guitar and vocals get a little more loud and intense. "Eyes & Smiles" has more light jazzy drumming along with chorused guitar and the never offensive vocals. Atmospheric keys join in. Later the drumming gets less jazzy and some strings get added.

An atmospheric middle section with chorused guitar arpeggios slowly getting faster before all the instruments come back. Near the end the noisy free-jazz trumpet playing reminds me of Art Zoyd. A repeated phrase on distorted vocals to end it. "Pendulum Man" has 2-note guitar playing as atmospheric synths and another guitar playing 2 notes (but different notes) enter. Some tremoloed guitar arpeggios add to the atmosphere. Then a 2-note bassline as the original guitars get slightly more varied in their playing. Some ambient atmospherics as the bass plays randomly. Ends with chorused and delayed and tremoloed guitar and a few piano notes. No drums or percussion at all. Very ambient but also the least interesting song here; good thing it's at the end of the album.

Hex took over a year to record. The sessions for the album took its toll on the members. Supposedly Graham Sutton was not the easiest guy to work with. Some members quit and Bark Psychosis never toured for the album. Apparently their live shows at the time rocked more and were more spontaneous than the atmospheric music of Hex. According to Sutton 50% of the album was made using a computer. It doesn't sound like it (but it doesn't sound like it was recorded in a church either). There would finally be a follow-up album released in 2004...a decade later.

For me post rock reached its creative peak between 1996-99. The early stuff like Hex sounds like a blueprint but not so much a statement. The late 1990s saw an explosion of creativity for post rock groups. But the early 2000s saw both the original PR bands starting to loose steam and newer bands with a somewhat more watered-down formula starting to ascend. Hex is an important album as far as '90s rock music goes. It's not quite as influential on later post rock as some make it out to be, but at the same time shows how diverse early post rock really was. It's hard to give a rating to this; it has historical significance but at the same time I'm not a huge fan of the music overall. The vocals in particular I don't really care for. An interesting album nonetheless, I will give it a 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Out of nowhere comes an album and group I've never heard of producing amazing music! I'm hearing Stereolab, Ben Watt, David Sylvian, Lunatic Soul, Ulver, Massive Attack, No-Man, Tortoise, XTC, Bill Evans, Koop, The Jazzmasters, Robert Fripp, Ryuichi Sakamoto, The Beta Band, Adam Plack, Alain Eskinazi all mixed into one in a way in which the sum of all these parts is breathtaking! If this is Post/Math Rock, then this is my new favorite album from the sub-genre. And such diverse sounding songs! Though all the offerings could almost be considered low-key lounge music, there are so many subtle, interesting, brave, and virtuosic things going on within each song as to be totally engaging--no: engulfing! And it's so beautiful! And just listen to the wonderful drum work! And the power of the growly (à la Ulver's "Garm" and David Sylvian) male and breathy female vocals. All five star songs but two. Another modern masterpiece. Highly recommended as essential for any prog rock lover's music collection!

Though the debut album by Bark Psychosis was not the first post-rock album - other bands such as Talk Talk had made early explorations of this territory - it was the piece which caused the term to be coined, as reviewers grasped for ways to describe the music presented here. The influence of the last two Talk Talk albums is clear to see, particularly in Absent Friend, where Bark Psychosis engage in tranquil jazz explorations which are very obviously inspired by those on Spirit of Eden.

Whilst the album does not expand the boundaries of post-rock to any great extent and lacks the sweeping scope and inventiveness of the classic albums that preceded it, it's still a carefully- composed and elegantly performed piece which is enjoyable in its own right. Plus it provided proof that it was possible to capture the late Talk Talk sound without enduring the sort of extreme recording sessions and massive expense those albums entailed. Not an absolute classic, but still a very fine achievement.