A likeable album! Dreamy, mellow and pleasant-sounding rock with
plenty of imagination and oddness to steer it away from soft rock or dead ends. The vocals (and equally as important harmonies) are strained whispers
-- part confessional, part instructional -- strolling along, sometimes
speaking to us or about some guy we knew a short ways back. The
instrumentation is sparse. Simple and solid drumbeats mainly work the snare
and the cymbals. The bass follows in simple low tones that fits between the
drums and the strumming, up-front acoustic guitar. The solos and background
noodling may be electric buzzes, piano, fuzzy electric guitar. The lyrics
are plainly surreal; everyday thoughts and occurrences are described in oblong metaphors and gorgeous imagery. These guys know how to a
construct song.
The five-minute "Five Miles" roughly sketches a description
of a fractured relationship, a fractured person, or a fractured society.
The long instrumental interludes and ultra-slow pace allow the words to be
thrown through us...we take them in but never grab hold, never put them all together. The Singing Hatchet is certainly not groundbreaking -
it's highly reminiscent of some of the best pop and drug rock of the late
60s. The Radar Bros have a great feel for this music, though, and with a
lovelingly soft-touch have produced an excellent album.
If you like the Radar Bros., check out:
Pink Floyd Atom Heart Mother
Acetone Acetone
Syd Barrett The Madcap Laughs
Neil Young After The Gold Rush
-- Aaron Goldweber
