Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything
20 January 2014
Constellation

4.5 stars out of 5

 

“We live on the island called Montreal, and we make a lot of noise because we love each other.” So begins the new LP by the newest incarnation of A Silver Mt. Zion (okay, so they’ve managed to keep the same band name for two albums now), narrated by the unpretentious voice of a young child. What follows is 50 minutes of ecstatic intensity, overflowing with vocal refrains that build and build with each repetition. The warm organic analogue sound of the record is as much a part of the compositions as the melodies and lyrics themselves, filling the spaces with life instead of dead digital non-hiss. Fuck Off… sees the band taking their beautiful and powerful sound into territory where the theoretical bridge between Nick Cave and Michael Gira could be built but, rather than imitating those older artists, standing firmly on their own self-made island.

“Fuck Off Get Free (For the Island of Montreal)” kicks things off, turning in purposeful gyres over terrain at once warmly familiar and excitingly exotic. The song’s ten minutes-plus of sonic attack unfold without one second seeming unnecessary or redundant. “Austerity Blues” comes across as a sort of post-rock/gospel experiment, as religiously uplifting as it is uncompromisingly noisy. The Far Eastern-inspired melodic lines of “Take Away These Early Grave Blues” serve as the frame in which the band’s multiple vocalists work themselves up towards catharsis. The gentle, piano-led “Little Ones Run,” sung by the band’s two female violinists, Jessica Moss and Sophie Trudeau, softens the sound of the LP for a couple of minutes, but doesn’t lessen its impact or intensity. “What We Loved Was Not Enough” could have been where Arcade Fire ended up if they hadn’t decided to hit the dance floor.

The album’s closer, the stunning “Rains Thru the Roof at Thee Grande Ballroom,” brings everything together in four minutes of spooky and mournful loveliness. Like the rest of the LP, it has everything which makes SMZ great: intensity without acting, relevance without style, commentary without cynicism, and sincerity without irony. The band shows that they are still just as vital to the Montreal scene, and music in the world as a whole, as they were in the last century. A 12” and an EP with new material will follow later in 2014.

reviewed by Richard Krueger