Sweden, vintage rock debut,
female vocals ... again. Don't be prejudiced, though, as Gothenburg's Postures
don't belie the promise their name might suggest to some of you: within the
nine tracks on this first effort of theirs, there's nothing to be found of
false gestures and poses, no caveman (and -woman) rock clichés and no average
rehash of allegedly glorious days. In fact, Postures take the best from times
gone by (warm synthesizers courtesy of keyboardist Mikael Edebro, who's
apparently quit by now) and spice it up with their very own playfulness in a
distinctly modern or rather timeless context. This is better by far than your
umpteenth Graveyard, Witchcraft or Horisont rehash.
Paulina Nyström's stellar
voice is, of course, the group's main characteristic, but gets highlighted by
simply strong musicianship and creative songwriting to boot. After the ethereal
introduction "Circles", Postures romp into "Heavy Tremor",
a perfect playground for the vocalist to show off her range. It's these longer
tunes - also the psychedelic "Solipse" and 13-minute monster
"Quakes" in the end - which show the outfit's affinity to Progressive
Rock in the classical sense, but there's no typecast fare to be had here. The
music is eventful not only on the surface yet also when listening closely. The
rhythm section in particular shines brightly throughout, always bridging the
gap between more improvised-sounding parts and concised "don't bore us,
get to the meat"-ditties like the short "Clouded Sight".
With respect to the latter,
"Are We Still Breathing?" and "Clusters" (fans of flying
Dutchies Gold may like this) are practically indie rock at its most condensed -
another penchant, it seems, of Postures. Lastly, they don't need even the voice
per se to impress (take the Floydish instrumental "Falling Into Place",
where indeed everything falls into place) and prove themselves to be a safe bet
if you are into oldish ambience (as conveyed by Mellotron and Hammond) in a
room full of juvenile energy. Already now, Postures shine brightly, even though
they lack the hit qualities which you might crave and maybe walk a bit too far
on the "jammy" side of things ... Who knows,though, what the future
brings? A jointventure, perchance, with the likeminded Katla?
words by Andreas Schiffmann
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