One Lick Less proves that you can do so much with just drum & bass and the occasional vocals. Â We Could Be Quiet contains music that hovers around free-ranging blues, progressive improv and even “spectral math rock.”
When you listen, it’s not hard to see all this. The album is an intense, sometimes instrumental, compilation full of eclectic bits and pieces all cohesively working together.
The result is impressive, in terms of range and style. It’s also something difficult to describe since it’s rare to hear such a unique sound.
One Lick Less is made up of duo Julien Bancilhon and Basil Ferriot. Together they create a sound that’s trippy and complicated yet pleasant to the ears. Most of the time, it’s the instrument work and beat that takes center stage with vocals thrown in the mix. They admit to being influenced by a myriad of artists including Nirvana, John Coltrane, Jesus Lizard, Tetsuki Akiyama and Miles Davis to name a few. As a result, the album is a hodge podge of blues, grunge, and rock all rolled into one.
We Could Be Quiet starts with the upbeat, Alameda. The song is danceable one with a nice blues jazz touch and great guitar playing. It’s easily one of my favorites in the record, as it conjures up images of Spanish guitars and dancing to some moonlit campfire in a foreign land. Fuzzy Rats, on the other hand, is among the tracks that feature voice. The melodic, somewhat detached, vocals are accompanied by slow but expert guitar picking and builds up to an uptempo wave of beautiful drumming.
Closing song, Vastly Phial, has a nice haunting, Sonic Youth influence in it. There’s the jangly, distorted guitars with chanting vocals that add to the dark atmosphere of the track.
In the end, the album is a unique one that’s worth watching out for. Grab the download and take a listen. It’s available as a free download over at BandCamp, but you can opt to help out the group by purchasing a physical copy of their record as well.
Related Links:
One Lick Less on BandCamp
One Lick Less on Facebook
One Lick Less on Myspace
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