Andrew Hock
Crystalline Privative Opulence
Union Finale (2015)
Andrew Hock, of Psalm Zero and, until recently, incredible black metal outfit Castevet, has always seemed a very interesting case, as the two before mentioned bands would let on. And the same interest would be transferred over to the debut album that Hock is putting out under his own name, Crystalline Privative Opulence. With an extended pallet of instruments, including bass clarinet, alto flute, electronics and of course the guitar around which most of this album is based, Hock leads us on to his mesmerizing and haunting musical vision.The drone side of Hock’s music raises its head from the very beginning of the album with the pace retaining its slow tempo and the hypnotic quality of the guitar laying the foundation of the song. But even though the ambiance is quite dense and there is a dark vibe about the opening song, Hock will still enrich its structure with some quite surprising melodic lines. From the quite sad but sweet opening lines the guitar parts will evolve into lighter melodies that lead the way and shed light within a dark body of work. The evolution of the sound from that aspect is quite surprising and it works brilliantly for Hock.The … Read more
Timeshares
Already Dead
Side One Dummy (2015)
This isn’t what I expected—there’s way more country punk twang than when I caught a short pre-Fest show from Timeshares … Read more
Little Sister
Split Up
Independent (2015)
Little Sister is an East Bay post-punk group with a passionate and well-deserved local following. The trio consists of Monbon … Read more
