"Organic Sampler"
(Psychonavigation Records)
eight / ten
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R.S.A.G. - RARELY SEEN ABOVE GROUND "Organic Sampler" (Psychonavigation Records) eight / ten |
R.S.A.G - or Rarely Seen Above Ground to give it its full name - is an intriguing project. A one man band, it stars former Blue Ghost drummer and Kilkenny native Jeremy Hickey taking on the role of a multiinstrumentalist and playing every single note and layer himself to arrive at a sound drawing up images of Joy Division, LCD Soundsystem, No Means No and Talking Heads had they Animal from The Muppets as their skinsman.
Songs like 'Stick To Your Line' and 'The Climb' encase themselves in walls of inventive drumming and percussion, and proving to be an interesting take on things, said drums and percussion dominate every song while the deep throbbing bass lines and bizarre semi-goth/new wave vocals argue amongst themselves for second place in the structure of the tunes.
Indeed, the rhythms are so infectious - a barrage of groove and bounce - I strongly had to fight the urge to play along on pots and pans. Certainly a refreshing take on things, it's quite remarkable that it all comes from the creative mind of the one man.
The bonus (or second CD) turns out to be R.S.A.G's self-titled first album which displays less vocals and is somewhat of a quieter affair than Organic Sampler. I found it best to listen to the two cds as two individual records rather than try to go through both at the one sitting.
To top the complete package, both cds come in a brilliantly designed DBS (discbox slider) cardboard digipack where you access the cds from the side. After repeat plays of this album I'm really looking forward to seeing it all live, where Jeremy drums and sings (the arms must be hanging off him live!) in front of screens showing silhouetted images of himself playing the other instrumentation. Quality release.
Trevor Meehan
www.myspace.com/rarelyseenaboveground
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