We Dig Hag Production

Folk Festival: very good; Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio: just about passable; Duck Baker's Roots & Branches Of American Music show: ace. Busy weekend.


WITCHES – IN THE CHAOS OF A FRIDAY NIGHT

Confession time. I never understood the attraction of eeebleee. For all the talk of understated folk balladry, all I heard were half-hearted drum machine pop songs nervously performed, something like a mixture of OMD after they were interesting and a particularly timid rabbit. I appreciate I’m the probably the only person in the Thames Valley who thinks this, but I stand by my opinion.

Well, we can argue about that if you like – hey, it’s the internet, that’s what it’s for, arguments and porn – but it’s far more pressing at the moment to concentrate on the fact that this recording by the newly expanded version of Witches, is absolutely superb, against all my expectations. Melodic, intricate, noisy, emotionally direct, this record is a multi-layered joy. Hell, even the cover is lovely, a sticky cross between Robert Rauschenberg and Kurt Schwitters.

Early Belle & Sebastian is undoubtedly the first reference point within easy reach, but this only tells half the story. Yes, as on records such as The Boy With The Arab Strap, Witches marry tuneful frailty with ornate arrangements, and there’s a pungent whiff of sordid low life about the subject matter (is it me, or is there something sleazy going down in the distorted melee of “Liked The Teacher’s Hair”?), but Witches throw a whole slew of fresh ideas into the pot to brew up something enigmatic and individual. The title track welds a loping, trumpet-led tune onto a propulsive bassline, rather like Tindersticks indulging in a krautrock binge, and “Putting You Back In The Ground” is a pastoral ramble bolstered by a dirty percussion loop, which unexpectedly ends in a sort of lo-fi digi-dub rhythm. I never thought I’d jotting “Arab Strap” and “Zion Train” next to each other in review notes, but that’s Witches for you, full of surprising touches.

Perhaps the best track is “I Wish I Could Lead The Life You Lead”, which is odd because the wistful piano song at its centre is closest to the old eeebleee territory. Still, it boasts the strongest vocal performance from Dave Griffiths - who has never been the most agile singer in town, to be frank - not to mention some gorgeous analogue synth washes, the musical equivalent of a slow motion film of waves breaking, backed by a colliery band style brass part. This mournful, sepia song seems at odds with the title of the record: forget Friday night madness, this is the beautifully melancholic sound of sad Sundays lost in a musty library of arcana. Most importantly, all these varied sounds and influences are artfully deployed. Where many bands would shove elements together randomly (and eclecticism is never its own justification, any more than dogged traditionalism is), Witches build a composite and very moving structure. If this is witchcraft, direct me to the coven forthwith.