ALBUM REVIEW: Love Inks – Generation Club
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Album Reviews | Released
“Love Inks / Generation Club
Monofonus Press
****
There’s a lot to say about simplicity. Some people may yearn for the complexities hidden in that slightly cringe inducing genre of prog-rock, some may swoon at the technicality of classical music, but for a lot of us primitiveness goes a very long way. Arguably one of the most important styles of music ever conceived – punk – was built around this notion of stripping back and returning to the basics. Although Love Inks are not ancestors of that raucous genre, they too go for a minimalistic approach, and one that leaves a lasting impression.
The band in question, which consists of couple Sherry LeBlanc and Kevin Dehan and accompanied by Derek Brown on bass, hail from Austin Texas – where they have recorded all of their material to date. The band are fittingly named after an ancient voodoo tradition of writing new love letters with the ink from the ashes of old ones. I say fittingly because each and every one of the tracks off their new album ‘Generation Club’, released on Monofonus Press, has an eerie, ethereal quality which harks back to an era of mystery and ritual. With each turn of the record the sound weaves itself insidiously into your mind until, before you know it, it will be playing in your sleep. Much like any minimalistic, easy listening LP you do not quite know that the album has sunk in until the last sound comes to a close and you find yourself missing it dearly – there is nothing that jumps out kicking and screaming ‘listen to me!!!’, but the tapestry of the record is one which slowly caresses the innards, like a hot cup o’ soup for the soul.
Kicking of ‘Generation Club’ is ‘Hold Out’, in which Sherry LeBlanc’s velvet strung vocal chords sound eerily like those belonging to Lana Del Rey. The track, much like the rest of the record, offers minimalistic and isolated instrumentation creating a sound, like in their debut E.S.P, which offers a mix between the likes of The XX and Fleetwood Mac – a pretty good combination if you ask me. Towards the middle section of the record ‘I’m Gone’ offers a slightly more upbeat production, until it slides into ‘Night Lunch’ which returns to slow paced, glistening beats and the ever beautiful vocals of LeBlanc. “There’s a lot of loneliness and isolation… and time is mentioned a lot” explains Sherry, talking on the themes of isolation and the minimalistic quality inherent in the record. “Time passing slowly is a theme for some reason. Austin is a lazy town and time goes very slowly, we love it here but people don’t really hop to it so to speak.” Continuing on the shaping of the record she said: “To get the record done Kevin didn’t talk to anyone for a long time and just focused on recording. Isolating himself really angered all of his friends, who thought he was being weird, which furthered the level of isolation… Overall it’s a positive album, but it is very reflective.”
All in all, the album is a soft, soothing, as Sherry says – reflective and effortlessly enthralling stream of tracks which can play throughout without you noticing too much, but there is some intangible quality about its sound which is currently making me stick it on repeat.
Sam Willis
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