Sunday, May 3, 2009

Clikatat Ikatowi - River Of Souls


Label: Gravity
Year: 1998

Back in 1996 I eagerly purchased the first Clikatat Ikatowi record, based solely on prior accomplishments of its members (hmmm, let's see...411, Metroschifter, Candle, Antioch Arrow, Forced Down, Heroin, End Of The Line, and Statue). I mean, how could I not get it right?
So, it turned out, I only kinda liked it. It got the "m'eh" reaction. Not bad, but not life affirming either. I expected a lot more from a varsity letterman you know what I mean?
So then, fast forward to me living in San Diego and now being surrounded by used copies of the second Clikatat Ikatowi record every time I go looking for that Clan Of Xymox album I need to finish my collection (truth be told, I have never actually heard Clan Of Xymox, nor do I really want to, I just remember the name from the goth girls in my high school [who weren't so much "goth" as simply run of the mill "alternative", but they wore dark clothes, smoked cloves and listened to the shit out of Clan Of Xymox, who I could only assume must sound something like Peter Murphy, but frankly couldn't pick out of a police lineup] always had that written on their Trapper Keepers, and it seemed the only band that started with "C" "L" I could think of off the top of my head. Why not Clawhammer? I don't know really, blogging is not an exact science. What, am I rambling?). So, I broke down and bought it, and maybe listened to it once. Okay, now fast forward again, and I'm thinking about my friend's old band (name drop!) Hal al Shedad, who I always thought sounded kinda like Clikatat Ikatowi, although I rarely listened to either. What's the point? Not a good one, I'll grant you that, but while thinking about this comparison, I whipped this album and gave it a spin just to refresh my medulla oblongata, and it seems much better than I remembered. Maybe not great, but there are definitely some cool ideas being fleshed out. Now if only I actually had some Hal al Shedad to compare it to. Oh well. What time is it, I should be getting to bed.

DL 

5 comments:

proven hollow said...

dude, dont fuck with the xymox.

my word verification: slypent, could be the hottest band name ever.

Gray said...

jesus, you and my wife...fucking goth girls.
how's that black nail polish working out for you?

PETE said...

'River of Souls' is my favourite, the first album is also good but doesn't really get the 'rating' that (IMO inferior) Antioch Arrow gets. The live album is a clattering, dissonant & abrasive piece of post punk hardcore akin to Birthday Party at their harshest. So anyone know when the demo is seeing an LP release?? Hope it's this year, I could use another fix of this type of noise.

James Joyce said...

I remember when this album came out, right at the same time the Sweep The Leg Johnny album with the exact same cover came out. I love it when that happens.

Also, that happened to hal in a sense when that first Promise Ring album came out at the same time. We were bummed, but maybe Phil was even more as he was the designer.

Gray said...

do you think clikitat sounds at all like hal?

 
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