What strikes you with a lot of spoken word, or poetry, in music is that rarely do the words and the music act as more than counterpoints to each other; each exists on its own terms, often to great effect, but one tends to drive the other, to dictate the direction of the whole. Not so with Enablers. Pete Simonelli’s prose positively sings, see-sawing back and forth and in and out of his bandmates’ astoundingly tight, complex music. Veterans of a host of intense, cathartic and bloody-toothed hardcore, post-rock and alt-rock bands, they rein in the volume as Simonelli slows to a whisper and swerve into bruising post-hardcore as his protagonists’ tales become evermore terrible, desperate and hopeless. Shellac or Fugazi would be lazy reference points, if you need them, but the tales Simonelli essays are more personal, poetic and vivid than an Albini or a Mackaye. They’re the American dream gone sour, and the men left cut adrift and contemplating their fate. If listening to Enablers is like being in the eye of the storm, seeing them close up in a setting as intimate as the Cube should be incredible.
Support comes from Salisbury’s Adam Varney, aka Finglebone, whose 23 takes the intricate, dusty melancholia of his earlier ambient guitar manipulations and knots it with harsher electronic textures, drone and field recordings. Highly recommended for download at the bandcamp address below.
ENABLERS / FINGLEBONE
Cube Cinema, Dove Street South, Bristol BS2 8JD | 20:00 15/10/2011
(Sat 15th / 8pm / £7 door, £6 advance)
Enablers return to the West Country after incredible gigs at The Croft and down the road at ATP a while back. We’re very excited to be putting these fellows on again,probably one of the best live bands out there full stop!
‘The sound has evolved since the last full LP release ‘Tundra’, still with the intense dynamic guitar play between Joe Goldring and Kevin Thomson and the weaving in of Pete Simonelli’s words, but now featuring Doug Scharin (Codeine, Rex, Him, June of 44 …) on drums! This is a confident record still with the distinct elements of musicianship and imagination that made the previous releases so engaging but one that is moving forward into new sounds, new realms. Not to be missed – go listen!!!’ (http://www.theliminal.co.uk)
Finglebone
23″ is a collection of experimental layering of field recordings and ambient sounds is interwoven with light and sparkling acoustic guitar melodies. All in all, this results in a very organic sound structure. This is a great one for headphone listening, as many of Pan, EQ and other effects details are buried deep in the mix. Contemplative, meditative, sunny and peaceful – like a walk in the woods”. – Klangverhaltnisse Ambient blog.
http://enablers.bandcamp.com
http://myspace.com/enablers
http://www.lancashireandsomerset.co.uk
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21008098333
http://finglebone.bandcamp.com/
