Band : Audiotransparent
Album title : Chekov Guns
Label : Katzwijm Records – Excelsior
Distributor : V2
Release date : 09/11/2009
Release : CD

This North Holland based (members are from Groningen, Amsterdam, and Utrecht) IndiePop quintet (currently consisting of singer/ bassist/ guitarist Bart Looman, guitar/ backing singer Chris van der Ploeg, guitarist/ synth & sampler player Gijs van Veldhuizen, piano/ synth/ violin player Andreas Willemse, and drummer/ backing singer/ tape handler Michel Weber, they are often sustained during live apearances by trumpetist Rogier Vroom, violinist Hanneke Rolden, and cellist Sebastiaan Wiering) was formed in 2002 (under different line-up). As extra-curricular activities we can  cite that Looman is also active as live bassist for At The Close Of Every Day, Weber used to drum for Benjamin B, and as violinist Willemse has (among others) joined Lawn on stage.

The band issued their self-titled in September 2003, and followed that up with sophomore album Nevland in September 2005 (both albums issued through Livingroom Records were followed by 3-inch vinyl single The Friday Of Our Lives in December 2005, the Hands & Fields split 7-inch with We Vs. Death in September 2006 and on the Dutch  Indie Singles Club label, and eventually the 7-inch split EP with Great Lake Swimmers, issued through Katzwijm in April 2009). These releases, as well as Dutch tours with Tindersticks (UK, in 2003) and Great Lake Swimmers (Canada) and regular appearances as support for Dutch acts We Vs. Death, LPG, Awkward I, and Kim Janssen, along with performances at Dutch festivals Noorderslag, Noorderzon (respectively in 2004 and 2008) and Into The Great Great Wide Open have established the band as very popular in the Dutch underground. Thanks to short but very successful tours in East-Canada and Scandinavia, being picked up by the (now deceased) infamous John Peel, and by having their music posted on pages of music outlets such as last.fm, the guys already left a positive impression outside the strict confines of their home country as well…and I guess time has now come to improve on that even more!

The band spent almost two years working on this new album, eventually recording it over a 50-day period in an analog studio with producer Corno Swetsloot (already their collaborator on the previous albums). In the time working towards the new album the band not only took a slight switch in musical direction (the soft, slow and melancholic of the first records was exchanged for a real gritty, more modern IndiePop, and old references like Sparklehorse and Low were exchanged for Wilco, Neutral Milk Hotel and electronically tainted acts like Notwist and Animal Collective) but also some personal blows, things that are reflected in the new album’s lyrics! From to the biography we got along with the (download) promo of the album, I found out subjects such as infidelity (in “Communication Cord”), divorce (“Castles”), changing friends (“You Are A Movie”), illness (“Best Laid Plans”), and threatening death (“Far Away”) rule the album, but it’s also ended by the very beautiful cover of Andreew Gold’s world hit “Never Let You Slip Away” (already on the split with Great Lake Swimmers – by  the way, GLS singer Tony Dekker and banjo player Erik Arnesen were guests on the song “You Are A Movie”, the 2nd song on that EP, and also featured on the album), showing that the band (and especially frontman Bart Looman) is already crawling from the black hole they’ve been in.

To find out how beautifully the band has changed, musically speaking, check out the songs posted at myspace.com/audiotransparent. Besides the songs from the EP, you can also listen to “Communication Cord” and “Real White Smile” (about how looks can decide your stature in life)…as well as to 3 older songs for comparison needs (by the way, if you scroll down the page you’ll also find videos for “Really White Smile” and a live video for album opener “Prison Yell”). If those tracks have kindled your taste for more, you might wanna check the band out in live conditions (they’re playing the Groningen festival Eurosonic on January 15, and play a couple of loose gigs working their down the country and to February 10, when they play at the PaardPop festival in Zwolle – check out the MySpace page for more details), or simply go out to buy the album. As for my personal appreciation of Chekov Guns, I’m sticking to my original rating (there’s a somewhat depressing mood here that didn’t go well with that of the X-Mas period) but I’m nevertheless adding the album to my year-lists!

PS. : Nearly forgot to mention that this album is also available in 12-inch vinyl…and seen as how keen the band is on that music-carrier medium, they’ve added a 13th track (“The Sunday Of Your Life”) as a bonus. Now thàt’s the form in which I am gonna get myself this album, see!?

94/100

Tony.