Thirty Pounds of Bone – Whence, the 
(Cargo/Proper
Digital/Armellodie Rocrds)
Release Date: 29th January 2021
The fact that Thirty Pounds of
Bone was raised in Shetland but now resides in Cornwall suggests that he either got
very lost on the way home from the pub or he properly fell out with his
parents. Either way, it has paved the way for this album, ‘Whence, the’ to
enter the world and so we must be grateful for this turn of events.
Opening with ‘A Note to Myself’,
Thirty Pounds of Bone eases into our world with a deadpan vocal and the kind of
lazy strum and meandering atmospherics that makes for a Bowie-esque ramble and
any album that starts that way is AOK in my book. ‘You Made Me’ follows with a
similar energy but a mournful tone as the guitars and drums gently swagger like
an outlaw riding in to town with foreboding tattooed on his knuckles. On ‘A
Story of Long’ the fuzzy, low guitars stretch out over the horizon with a shoegaze
vibe while ‘But Sad’ makes use of analogue synths and pulsating beats to create
a futuristic vision from the past which is utterly immersive.
There is a wonderfully
unplaceable element to the music of Thirty Pounds of Bone (Johny Lamb to the tax
man) and that is never more evident than on ‘Descender’. Here we have a tune
that takes in influences from Lemon Jelly, Flight of the Conchords and greats
like Bowie and Kraftwerk which must whet your appetite or you’re no friend of
mine. ‘The Cynical Start to a Jaded Career’ continues in the vein of futurism
played through a rusty kaleidoscope with layered synths pulsing on top of one
another and Lamb’s vocal crying out like the great great grandson of Reginald
Perrin. The whispered vocal of “I’m so tired, I’m so tired” is perfectly
delivered on ‘Sing’, to the point that your drawn into the world of an astronaut
spinning through space and running out of air.
‘This Dog’ has a haunting spirit
as the gentle acoustic notes ring out across the wilds of Cornwall (or Shetland
for that matter) but there is a triumphant and ecstatic finale so enjoy the full
extent of this one. The album closes out on ‘Woodchip’, which has all the
kitchen-sink charm of a Jarvis Cocker demo and the deadpan delivery of a Dorian
Cox delivery. Thirty Pounds of Bone is one of those artists that makes music
for the sheer pleasure of it and that richness comes through in the music so
this is well worth immersing yourself in as the world spins on.
More information: https://twitter.com/30lbsofbone