Notes From A Smooth Talker #2

Our latest addition to the form und leere roster, Juliane, sat down and wrote her debut review for the blog. Check out the second installment of Notes From A Smooth Talker and read what she thinks about lypurá’s very first Long Player. The Episode also includes a review for the first work of Alex Bigman's and Niko Zaglaras' new project called Ghost Spirit.

Lypurá from Karlsruhe started in 2014 and has already put together a quite distinctive piece of art. For their debut they found a home at Karlsruhe-based Twisted Chords records. I listened to the pre-released songs 'prerequisite' and 'weak' for a while until I realized that finally, the whole album was available on bandcamp. These first two tracks but also the demo from 2015 had already raised some expectations, which the other seven songs on á didn’t belie. The record has this beautiful dynamic and variety in each and every song absorbing you from the start. You’ll hear screamo crossing genre borders to post-hardcore, shoegaze, jazz and punk, building up energy during calmer parts, where you start clenching your fist, ready to raise it, and on the outburst screaming along in unison. While some songs surprise with growled parts like in 'a lost harmony', others - in the manner of the absolutely phenomenal 'growing' - have a dreamy attitude intensifying in chorus singalongs. The instrumental 'convalescence' could even be considered a shoegaze song.  On the other hand, you get glimpses of emoviolence on the track  'light'. Dani, David and Basti all share vocals, alternating between screamed parts and chants, reciting lyrics, which are permeated with self-doubt, disappointment and inner turmoil. The singing is not always on tone, but that makes the package even more likable. Despite the described rollercoaster of emotions caused by loneliness, the album, which is also available through the Italian DIY label Blessed Hands, ends with a hopeful 'In the end, everything will be just fine'. Give Lypurá a try - one way or the other, they might get to your heart.

“You promised me that we, too would get through this together / this darkens everything like unkind clouds” [aberration from path]

Recently founded Ghost Spirit is a LA-based screamo outfit, consisting of CMHWAK’s Alex Bigman doing the vocals, guitarist Niko Zaglaras, bassist Evan Henkel, and Taylor Jewell on drums. Within the scene, in one way or another, each of the four has already made a name for themselves, as the group features members of bands like Lord Snow, Fight Fair, Seeing Means More, Heritage Unit and VRIL. Released on Blue Swan Records, their self-titled debut starts with Reflections, an intense two-minutes screamo song full of changes in tempo and varying vocals - including background as well as spoken word vocals. At the latest when Bigman's voice kicks in, screaming „Trace your dreams onto a mirror and tell me what you see. Reflections engraved into eternity and drowned amongst the clouds.“ it becomes clear that melancholy and desperation is deeply ingrained to Ghost Spirit’s song-writing. Supporting those aspects during the entire album, the band’s angry sound is dominated by obscure harmonies, created by the guitar play of Zaglaras and Jewell’s incentive drumming. After a pack of four songs, it’s the instrumental interlude, Memories, Heirlooms, providing some space to digest the first eight minutes, before Ghost Spirit’s debut closes with Weightless, the most colorful track of the album and Distance, a love song, slowing down after its furious start, as Henkel, Jewell, Zaglaras and Bigman cautiously pick up the pace again until Distance reaches its carefully composed climax around the four minutes mark. Towards the end, the song fades out again, leaveing us with a strong impression about the first work of the Californian foursome.

“Breathe into the sky, through perilous clouds and towards a new tomorrow. I will be there for you always, even when crimson rain comes pouring down. I’ll be by your side, you will be safe and sound. Yes this is my love-letter to you. Cross my heart, hope to die, your gift keeps me alive. And if we’re drawn apart, it's only distance my dear. I’ll be back soon in your arms, you have nothing to fear.” [Distance]