TIMBER TIMBRE play Trinity-St. Paul’s Church April 8. See listing. Rating: NNNN
Taylor Kirk blew a lot of minds two years ago with his self-titled third album as Timber Timbre. His spooky blues folk sounded like an undead Roy Orbison serenading a ghostly girlfriend in a graveyard at midnight, but cleverly avoided the goofy goth trappings that description suggests. In the wake of extraordinary critical acclaim, the solo project became a trio who wowed live audiences by gracefully transitioning between abstract, scary soundscapes and earthy, mournful roots ballads, making that odd duality seem completely natural.
There’s a lot of the magic of their live show in Creep On Creepin’ On, with Kirk’s collaborators wringing impressively harrowing sounds from violin and lap steel. However, it’s the frequent and effective use of bluesy piano that’s more upfront, which may mean that Kirk will have to expand the lineup yet again for live performances. Cautious listeners should be warned that this is a very dark and strange album, but wrap your head around the dissonance and general creepiness and you discover one of the more startlingly original takes on 60s rhythm and blues ever put down to disc.
Top track: Bad Ritual
