HC-B
Deux
Hidden Shoal Recordings

Here's yet another band from Italy. HC-B hail from Catania on the eastern coast of Sicilia (Sicily), and they've picked the initials of the iconic French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) for their band name. Cartier-Bresson is considered the master of candid photography - a master of street photography. HC-B (the band) roam the experimental and instrumental post rock landscapes. Or, like they say in Italy: 'sperimentale e strumentale'. I do like the sound of that - it sounds like something.... vivid.

HC-B is a quintet, counting Federico Laudani (guitar, bass), Salvatore Fichera (guitar, bass, clarinet, vocal music), Willem Gator (guitar, synth), Gianluca Napoli (guitar, bass, keyboards, theremin, vocal music) and Riccardo Napoli (drums, xylophone). A lot of chiming guitar, or 'chitarra' (as the Italians say), that is. They've been going on since 1999 and they've out out a few EPs plus two albus: Sliding on Barents Sea (2003, Edwood Records/GoodFellas) and Soundcheck for a Missing Movie (2009, Hidden Shoal). "Deux" is a taster from their brand new album, Rough (already out, on 26 June). In some way, the 'post rock' was sort of a (mid/late) 1990s to early 2000s 'thing', with bands like Labradford, Tortoise, Trans Am, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky and several others. So when the Sicilian quintet continue on the spaced'n'krauted post rock path, I sort of get somewhat suspicious, but I'm still drawn to (or towards) dark, instrumental rock like this kind. I can still become fascinated by the genre. HC-B do good, even if they're not extraordinary. Hidden Shoal tag "Deux" as being 'slow-burning', which is quite accurate - both for this single, as well as this genre in general. "Deux"'s swirling, swaying melody patterns and serpentining guitar themes, which creates music growing in (and out) of force - with loudness paired with the quiet, rising in volume and intensity... Well, it makes me want to come back to check out Rough as an album (all its five parts). I will, just check in next moonth.

Kri-shen-doh! Kri-sen-doh! Kre-shen-daw!

Copyright © 2015 Håvard Oppøyen