Lark – Blink (Standard Lamp Records)
DL / CD
Out Now
8/10
Following the critical success of Funny Man and its
ground-breaking reworking in The Remixes, Lark (founded and fronted by Karl
Bielik) have re-released their third album, 2014s Blink.
Hard to label, Lark present a mish-mash of massive basslines
and occasional distortion coupled with gargantuan sounds and honest,
hard-biting lyrics which make appearances as early as the first two lines of
album opener I Don’t Got in the form of expletives that your Aunt Mabel would
squirm at. A modern day variant of punk,
Lark represent an often volatile sound which encompasses both death and life in
one single punch.
Blink isn’t for the light-hearted. It’s gritty and often leaves a dirty feeling
inside, a feeling that exposes the terror and fear in all of us, a feeling that
is hard to control and even harder to unleash.
It spirals into the inner conscience and leaves an indelible mark though
grim monotony and repetitive darkness.
Its wonderful stuff.
The seedy sordidness of …And Still You Blink maybe typifies
the whole album – biting, sincere lyrics wrapped in a shroud of raw
instrumentation with an amazing live feel.
Bielik’s voice is often far from perfect but that forms the basis of
much of the charm. It’s honest and real,
and offers something that every anti-pop fan can relate to.
Morning Rain borders on gorgeous as the instrumental echoes
AM drizzle slowly turning into a louder downpour before gliding away as gently
as it came. It also offers respite before
the inflamed tunes re-commence. Some
Love borders on pop but it’s simple,
non-conformist approach stops it from sinking to those depths as in less than
two minutes it encourages toe-tapping and then closes abruptly.
There are often conflicts of subtlety and aggression which
merge easily. The two emotions somehow
fitting perfectly together via the mediums of voice and instrument, resulting
in a hybrid of sentiment which offers so much more on subsequent listens.
Blink is perhaps typified by album closer Etc. If not in its title then in its low key
content, it kicks back at the music industry with a simple vocal meandering
over simpler sounds. An album which slipped
under the radar first time around but with Lark’s new found interest, should
now get the accolades it deserves.
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