Bernaccia – Growl Peace Belief
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| Bernaccia - Growl Peace Belief |
Release Date: Out Now
There has always been something primal,
something almost mythical about the music created by Newcastle’s Bernaccia and
that has always seemed at odds with their urban location. But then you realise
that they draw from the raw and bleakly beautiful landscape that surrounds them
and how that clashes with city and it all makes sense. In the same way that Las
Vegas rubbing shoulders with the dessert has influenced art, the city vs
countryside juxtaposition influences music in the UK. This long awaited album, ‘Growl
Peace Belief’, is a monolith of a record that stands tall and ominous on the
horizon in the same way a celtic marker may have.
Opening with the sound of waves
rushing in to shore and a guitar riding on the tide, ‘War Cry’ heralds this
opening of this album, soon by the Viking thud of drums and an almost chanting
vocal. Sure this is psychedelic and this is spaced out but that primal urgency
is there in a way that takes the best bits from the Fall, Kasabian and the
Doors. ‘Spiral’ is a tune more inspired by city lights and the promise of a
good night out with its pulsing synths and sparse guitar line that brings to
mind Primal Scream at their most wasted and hedonistic. Then comes ‘Awake’ and
suddenly we’ve moved from the wet streets in to a nightclub with stabbing
organs and frantic rhythms confusing the senses as Ellen Chetcuti takes over
vocals duties from Johnny Noble to show off yet another layer to their sound.
On ‘Power To The Hills’ Bernaccia
reach their primitive peak as a simple refrain is embellished with gloriously
booming drums and the kind of native American chanting you expect to hear after
smoking too much out in the dessert. Noble’s deep, velvety voice swaggers and
seduces in a way that suggests Mr Mojo Risin’ may have once visited Newcastle
and had quite a good time a few years ago. Recent single ‘Angel’ fits in perfectly
with the rest of the album giving an urgent and slightly paranoid account of
itself before ‘Vega’ gets us all up dancing a soft shoe shuffle. The slow
cowboy swagger of ‘Murder’ has a truly Tarantino vibe to it while ‘Senorita’
cements the bands wild west credentials with some real tremolo effect guitars
playing at the back of the hacienda and vocals whispering in on a scorched
early evening breeze.
The album closes on its title
track, ‘Growl Peace Belief’, and that water theme is back as the rain falls
only to be interrupted by an itchy, impatient guitar riff and the kind of high
hat work that suggests something is afoot. The song erupts magnificently before
subsiding like a fierce storm moving on up the coast with the words of JFK left
on the wind “not only peace for our time but peace in all time”. This album is
something special and will last long in the memory for me having lived with it
for the best part of a week so I urge you to get a copy and really get to know
it, you’ll be a better person for it.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/BernacciaMusic/