CODENAME: DUSTSUCKER

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.