Disappointing scenes from the Krautrock legacy today, as three-piece Caudal churn out an tepid, emotionless set of repetitive psych-ish jams. We seem to be undergoing a renaissance of repetitious space-rock, and this is one of the most squandering efforts I’ve heard come out of the milieu.
Repetition can, of course, be a wonderful thing, signalling an increase in intensity, the reframing of a musical perspective, a way of navigating every permutation of a song. Unfortunately, the songs on this album rarely consist of more than one uninspired riff playing out past the point of sense. Opening trio of songs “Well I Suppose”, “Divisible”, and “Slope” are indistinguishable from one another, and frankly dull. Things pick up marginally in the mid-section, with the (only slightly) aptly-named “Flourish”, and the palate-cleanser “Low Red”.
But this is, largely, a massive botch, an obviously talented band chasing their tail down a dingy rabbit hole (and dingy is the word; the production on this thing is muddy and awful). Trimmed of fat and released as an EP, this could have been quite promising. As it is, it’s not quite a complete failure, but it’s not exactly great. And, as Michael Bluth would say, that’s worse.
(band info can be found here: https://caudal.bandcamp.com/album/fight-cry-fight)
The Appreciation Index 