STATUE - KASPER (FONS Records/Jezus Factory LP, CD).

For fans of the mesmerizing guitar interplay of Television, the kinetic Post Rock grooves of Battles and the noisenik squall of early Sonic Youth there is a new album from Belgian Post Rock/Psych Rock instrumental band Statue landing imminently. With a  line up of guitar + guitar + bass + drums + guitar + guitar, Statue’s “shock and awe” approach mixes a heavy wall of massed guitars with a tight and nimble rhythm section that is an intense “guitar-extravaganza-experience” yet fluid and danceable, with their dense sound having previously been compared to Post Rock titans such as Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Already building a reputation on the Belgian alternative music scene with two previous excellent long players and having played eye catching shows at the Pukkelpop festival and the Eindhoven Psych Lab, Statue’s third release, Kasper, could be the breakout record that will bring the band to the attention of a much deserved wider audience.

Smart and clever without ever disappearing in a fog of unlistenable pretentious bullshit, Kasper works on many different levels…………….there are echoes of the glacial guitars of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd that elegantly fused together during Television’s greatest moments and the quiet, loud, very loud Post Rock dynamics of bands such as Mogwai mixed with elements of Prog Rock and layers of fuzzed out sonic sprawl that are offset by pulsing motorik bass lines and hyperactive drumming that rocks like a bastard, having much more in common with muscular new Psych Rock bands such as RMFTM and Causa Sui than Space Rock jam bands that are more Grateful Dead than Cosmic Dead. Very modern sounding and taking their inspiration/influences from different sources, Statue have avoided all of the clichés that can blight a new record………………there is no Stoner Rock Sabbath riffing, trips to deep space or the recycling post Psychedelic vibes but an intelligent, economical conceptualization of instrumental Post Rock/modern Psych Rock. No doubt sequenced to work as a continuous piece of music, the album flows beautifully with guitars soaring and spiraling into infinity over nine brilliant tracks as Statue explore what kind of glorious noise you can make with four guitarists. Sharp, urgent and crammed with monster grooves, Kasper is a fantastic record that demands your attention.

Due to hit the racks on 16/03/2018, the new Statue album is an LP/CD joint release by the London label Jezus Factory Records with the Belgian label FONS Records and will be available from the more adventurous record stores, on line from the usual suspects or directly from the Jezus Factory and FONS websites.

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