PLANK! - EP

PLANK! are a three piece who play (mostly) instrumental music. Repetitive, hypnotic music which flirts with Krautrock and in particular stalwarts of that 'genre' Neu! and Amon Duul II. They've even nicked Neu!'s punctuation.

It's within this context of heavily patterned drumming and bass melodies, of trance-like grooves and repeating loops, that each song finds its own heartbeat and forms a structure out of seemingly nothing. There's a buoyant but melancholic arc to the (bad)punningly entitled 'Arse Nick' whereas '1001 Nacht' toys with 'kosmische' avant-gardist psychedelia by throwing a bit of experimentalism the listeners way.

Once 'Phlaa' gets going the song's similarities to Neu!'s seminal 'Hallogallo' are too obvious to be coincidental. They clearly have an affection and appreciation of the musical legacy to which they are adding their own stamp.

Personally I could do with more, a lot more, the songs on the EP are way too short and at an average of four minutes that's a rare thing indeed. The impetus just about begins before the music levels off and ends with an often abrupt flourish. Sadly. I'd happily take a full length album of this music if they're willing to spend time putting one together. EP closer 'La Luna' is a beautiful example of spaced ambiance that is treated with the throwaway frivolity of a band easily bored with the rhythms they've discovered. Pity.

The musical interplay throughout comes from the synchronous drumming and bass although the occasional guitar riff gets a look in particularly on 'Arse Nick' which creates musical spirals which reach into each other and draw out some interesting results.

It's arguable where PLANK!'s music sits within the current musical context, it's certainly not populist and deliberately so but it's also drawn aside from the plethora of post-rock, psyche-rock bands of the last ten years or so. PLANK! could be viewed as custodians to this marginal sound and one which is much deserving of rediscovery. Bloody good ones too.

www.myspace.com/plankuk
www.mekongdelta.co.uk