“The Horse, The Rat, and The Swan” - Snowman (Dot Dash Records)
Reviewed by Jacinta Rosielle
Snowman’s new album is a walk through a dark jungle, complete with nasty surprises and comforting spirits. “The Horse, The Rat, and The Swan” is beautifully harsh, sweet, noisy and gentle, all at once. With tribal drums, chants, swampy guitar and a whole lot of noise provided by feedback and electronic effects, it is one awesome album of contrasts.
“Our Mother (She Remembers)” opens the album with pounding drums, driving guitar, and the intense vocals of Joe McKee, leading into the sweet, ethereal supporting vocals of Andy Citawarman accompanied by squealing feedback. The single, “We Are The Plague”, is next, a kind of messed up duet that alternates between Citawarman’s soft distorted vocals and McKee’s growls. Mechanical chanting leads the listener into “The Gods Of The Upper House” and back out again with the repetition of “we are machines”, only to segue into the fluid piano and angelically sweeping vocals of “The Blood Of The Swan”. Not to leave the rockabilly element behind, McKee then howls his way into “Daniel Was A Timebomb”, an energetic song (though sadly rather short) that’s sure to send more than a few punters slamming around at their gigs. … Inhale, exhale. Inhale, hold, release. … Once again, the album takes a breath, slowing right down to the gently meandering noise of “A Rebirth”. The song begins with snippets of filmic recordings and a low drone note that morphs into gorgeous harmonic feedback that seems to create a melody all by itself before crashing drums in the distance draw closer and accelerate into a wall of noise. Next, Citawarman pleads to “let her go” in “She Is Turning Into You”, a serenely beautiful track that hides an urgency until DiBlasio returns with his characteristically pounding drums. “The Horse, Pts. 1 & 2” consists of pained shouts muffled by an undulating noisescape and followed by another riotous crowd-stomper complete with driving drums, crashing cymbals and air-punching chant. In “Diamond Wounds”, McKee demonstrates his vocal dexterity, one minute evoking Iggy Pop’s velvety moments, vibrato included, and warbling like Johnny Rotten the next. Finally, “Do The Sleepwalk” ceremoniously marches the listener out of the jungle with a slow, thumping drum, McKee’s solemn repetition of “we’re sleepwalking”, and Citawarman’s priestly near-monotone that eventually breaks into celestial melody, paving the way for the final outburst of rapid guitar, sweeping feedback and those deliciously ominous drums.
The one criticism I have of this album is the difficulty in deciphering the lyrics. The dark imagery and riveting narratives are unfortunately only caught in glimpses before being repeatedly obscured by the rest of the music.
While “The Horse, The Rat, and The Swan” is much less of an alt-rock punter’s party album than their self-titled debut of 2006, it is indisputable evidence that Snowman are artists with vision and with any luck will keep surprising us for years to come.
Six of the ten album tracks are currently available for streaming at Snowman’s MySpace: