Aventinus? What’s that then, Latin or something? Are we in for a dose of Gregorian chant? On the other hand, sounds a bit like one of those words that marketing agencies get paid a fortune to come up with when a utilities company gets “rebranded”. Still, it’s not a given that a band with a dodgy moniker turns out music worthy of the name (“The Beatles”, anyone?) so let’s keep an open mind, cue up track one, and see what these guys can do.
For guys they are. Three chaps hailing from the US of A and one from Oxford, England (hurrah!) The band categorises itself as “Acoustic/Americana/Folk Rock” and the three tracks on offer here originated in the States with the finishing touches applied in the UK.
An initial example of Americana can be found in ‘Lori in the Evening’. The first thing to strike me, after a rather feebly strummed guitar chord, was Colin MacKinnon’s vocals. Powerful, clear, distinctly enunciated, with a melancholic edge, they serve as the focal point of the song, which seems to be a tale of unrequited love “among the breezy Boston streets”. With lines like, “just a minute left”, “every muscle in me aches to touch you”, and “your mouth was made only to be bruised with kisses”, there could be grounds for concern, but we appear to hearing from a moody, Keatsian figure holed up in his bedroom, rather than contemplating a visit from the Boston Strangler. The song builds nicely from a sparse introduction; gaining particular impetus from the entrance of the crisp, dynamic drumming, and the arpeggiated electric guitar helps to propel the song into folk rock territory, an impression underlined by the Al Kooper-esque organ whispering away in the background. The only jarring element for me was the saxophone, which introduces a bit of lounge band/MOR feel (as if, you might say, Candy Dulfer had invented a time machine, gone back to 1965, and snuck into the recording session for ‘The Sounds of Silence’…)
There’s more folk rock to be had on ‘Sir Patrick’s Bride’, but this is more of a British affair; historical, folkloric, “a tale of days of yore”, that sort of thing. The song’s themes of broken taboos and the weight of tradition are very well developed lyrically. Musically, there’s nice balance and interaction between the acoustic and electric guitars, although the electric guitar’s tone was a touch thin and trebly for my taste, and the guitarist seems to be intent on exploring more exotic scales than the song requires. Chris Hutchison’s drumming was a bit of a mixed bag; it started well but seemed to get progressively more “jazzy”, for want of a better word, before calming down again as the song came to an end. I think less (throughout) would have been more, as the acoustic guitar and vocals give the song the momentum it needs. As on ‘Lori…’, the vocals are first rate and the multi-tracking in the bridge excellently evokes the power of the storm. The “anon, anon” coda follows this up with the sense of calm after the storm, and I would have preferred the song to fade out here, in this spirit, rather than limp to a conclusion and afford the guitarist another chance to have a wander around the fret board.
The punchy, dynamic intro of ‘Sticking with the Union’ brings us back to the present day. This would make a great live number, ideally a set opener or closer, with its fantastically simple and memorable chorus. Musically, the carefully constructed twists and turns tackle a familiar idiom with enough skill and inventiveness to make us look at the proceedings with fresh eyes. The bouquets should be shared equally amongst the band on this one. The rhythm section is on excellent form, stretching themselves and pushing the boat out – but without showboating – and the horn section of Tim Marin and Scott Miller times two is particularly impressive, fulfilling exactly the role required in a song like this but steering clear of cliché and punctuating the proceedings with panache. Lyrically, there’s perhaps a bit too much inventiveness going on. The initial depiction of a familiar scene (bar room, buddies, booze, “uh oh, it’s the wife!”) is done by the book and with some skill, but in the second verse we’re suddenly transported to the 19th century and belaboured with chivalric references that threaten to unbalance the song. The bridge, musically impressive with it’s Clavinet style flourishes, is perhaps the point as which this new theme gets stretched to breaking point: should the words “rock band” and “deer hunt” ever appear together in the same song? Thankfully, after this, we’re back on track with an atmospheric, stripped down chorus building back up into a marvellous instrumental section with a manic tickling of the ivories that would make Jools Holland blush, and a spot-on, no-nonsense ending. No real gripes on this one apart from I’d have liked the backing vocals to be louder, and the lead vocal could perhaps been a bit rougher or in a lower register to make things a bit more gritty (perhaps it’s the “Americana” tag, but I picture this taking place in Chicago or Detroit rather than the Home Counties)
So, my friends, those three tracks have flown by and, I must say, I’d have happily listened to more. As an Anglo-American collaboration, Aventinus are a great advert for the Special Relationship. Let’s hope that President Obama and “Dave” can make similarly sweet music together, speaking metaphorically (of course!)