“Culture
and Concrete” is a six song cassette that begins in an acoustic manner but
doesn’t stay that way and it is all the better for it. You know, back in the early 2000’s I was
getting into Rachel Jacobs and I have a cassette of hers even. She had that strict sort of acoustic guitar
plus vocals pattern and it was good, and sure Hospital Call could have pulled
it off, but I’m glad that this does take a turn for the electric later on in
songs.
Somewhere
between Delta Dart and One-Eyed Doll I want to compare this with Poe as well
perhaps. It’s that sort of dark vibe
that makes me lean towards the goth persuasion, but I wouldn’t really consider
this to be goth so much as what you might think or as what you might be
expecting going into this if I dropped the g-bomb. The darker sense of it is just sort of
haunting and intense more than whatever tends to go with the gothic aspect of
music.
While
each of these songs is musically solid and the lyrics are there as well, you
have to just consider that one of the most resounding factors of this cassette
as a whole are that the vocals are just so present that they almost engulf you
in the way that very few others can. You’ll
really just be floored by the way that she belts it out because I know that I
was.
Now
you could listen to this cassette and say “Well, here are songs by Hospital
Call that sound good and have lyrics I like” or you could say that her voice is
just so powerful… but usually, you can remark as to one but not the other. When was the last time both of these things
could be said about the same artist?
Certainly, Hospital Call could stand on its own legs with only one of
these sentiments needing be expressed about it. The fact that both can be made just makes it
all that much more amazing.
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