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The Deadfly Ensemble: A Seed Catalog For Extinct Annuals By: Matthew Johnson Features Editor ReGen Magazine
Gloriously bizarre death rock, acoustic in style and nautical in theme.When
Lucas Lanthier first announced the formation of The Deadfly Ensemble as
an acoustic cabaret act, many fans presumed the new project would offer
a glimpse of the softer side of his other band, the noisy death rock
outfit Cinema Strange. If anything, the opposite is true. Rather than
subduing Lanthier's manic energy, the acoustic instruments and
comparative lack of feedback merely bring his frantic yelps and jumpy
musical arrangements into sharper focus. The group's second album
begins with an introduction of overdriven acoustic strumming and
muffled orchestral samples, then lurches into the fractured
mythological tale of "Polymelia and the Satyr," Lanthier squealing in
quavering falsetto as Marzia Rangel's stately cello tries in vein to
keep things grounded. On "Revenge on the Nursemaid," Lanthier takes on
one of his favorite roles, the creepily precocious child, as
gypsy-tinged guitars shuffle over Dizhan Blue's cabaret-inspired
percussion, while "Meaty Bones and Porridge," a gruesome fairy tale,
comes closer to straightforward death rock, distorted guitars wailing
alongside the moaning cello. While Lanthier's affected vocal acrobatics
make a printed lyrics sheet a necessity rather than a convenience,
careful study rewards the listener with plenty of clever stories of a
comically dark Victorian bent, vaguely suggestive of Edward Gorey,
Oscar Wilde, and perhaps a hint of Tim Burton. Despite its botanical
title, A Seed Catalog for Extinct Annuals adds the pirate-themed folk ditties of Dame Darcy and the sailing stories of Tony Millionaire's Maakies
cartoons to the mix; "The Adventures of Jonas Mauken" tells the tale of
a lucky but hapless sailor cursed to sink every ship he boards, with
pianos pounded by Christian Norton standing in for crashing surf and
gale-force winds, while "Dirty Weather" tells a similar tale, this time
from the point of view of one of the drowned victims, the erhu (a
Chinese stringed instrument) of Yi-Hsiuan Lee providing an
appropriately shivery sense of nautical ghostliness. "Queen Maude's
Pirates" is, appropriately enough, a pirate song, this time done up as
acoustic death rock with plenty of wheedling treble guitar, while the
surrealist fairy tale of "Ursusarktos the Bachelor" goes in the
opposite direction with bassist James Powell keeping things deep and
moody. Finishing the album off are "Dishonest Corset," a faintly
Indian-sounding assemblage of twanging strings and wordless yips, and
"Tiny Little Things," an extended, mostly instrumental performance that
feels rather like a gothic jazz session, if only because each musician
is given ample chance to show off his or her chops. Tacked on at the
end is a lecture by Lanthier, entitled "The Pre-Decimalization Monetary
System of Great Britain," which is exactly what its title says it is,
and also features whistling and scatting in the background. Hardly the
drowsy and sober neo-folk you might expect from an all-acoustic crew of
eccentric goths, this is death rock through and through, with all the
abrasiveness and theatricality that entails. Fans of Sex Gang Children,
Virgin Prunes, and Christian Death, don't be fooled by the cello; A Seed Catalog for Extinct Annuals was made for you.
5:05 AM
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