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Tuesday 18 January 2011

Zeroes QC - Suuns



Zeroes QC
Suuns
8.5/10

Fall EP Zeroes left Suuns floating in a half-lit, minimal and genre-less cavity – perhaps only faintly touched by the likes of Battles, Television or Clinic beforehand. With debut proper Zeroes QC, we are dragged far deeper, following the Montreal four-piece into an uncharted abyss, where darkness swathes and edges blur – where Suuns lead with laser-guided precision into a sinking state of mesmeric foreboding, a sprawl of synthesised doom; the Suunshine state of mind (I’m sorry but a pun was inevitable, even if the name is pronounced ‘Soons’).

Basically, lots of big and meaningless words go some way to explain this album. But pretence aside, it’s quite simply, bloody good. Suuns have the curious ability to teeter on a different cliff edge at every moment, such as during opener ‘Armed for Peace’ – a number practically gagging to throw itself off and into the oncoming flood promised by swirling synth-driven waves and splintering Nick Zinner-esque guitar riffs. Centrepiece ‘Sweet Nothing’ is the same; tantalisingly building through its minimalist underground disco beat into a sudden a rare rush of scratching melody, quite suddenly colliding with a wall of nothingness at its close.

Suuns sense of pacing is impeccable; never do they allow their instruments to clash, nor are they untidy with their sound effects – and the preference of an extended instrumental over solos adds further to the solidarity of the record. Though this may have its downsides (‘Marauder’ is so short and generic that it simply comes across as lazy, and ‘Up Past The Nursery’s clinical minimalism appears stagnant when following ‘Sweet Nothing’), the album never drags, aided largely by the internal contrast of the songs. ‘Gaze’ is highlighted by its splattered saxophone finale, ‘Arena’ by its arcade-walking intro and ‘Organ Blues’ by its deep and resounding organ bass line.

In essence, this near perfect balance Suuns maintain between several cliff edges leaves only one thing certain. Zeroes QC has put Suuns at the edge of their gangplank, and it is this next step into the unknown that’ll show what these guys are truly made of. I look forward to what comes next.

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