Well hello again. Told you I’d be Rein-bach! And I’m coming at you with more musical favourites, mostly major artists thus far, but today, owing to the fact that I need to be up at half 5 for my morning jog, I am trying something more obscure and thus shorter. It comes with an interesting memory of my first ‘festival’, this being the Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall, England, around this time 4 years ago. I was there to help put together a magazine for the festivalgoers during a rather wet and, in typical festival fashion, muddy 3 days. Only by the fourth day did the rain stop, the sun come out, and my duties to the magazine cease for one glorious day of self-indulgence. And it was on this final day, after wandering the venue grounds, drinking gin and tonic from a reusable plastic cup, and checking out all I could fit in, that I heard the metallic resonances of an electric guitar emanating from a far corner of the field. What I found was the Cornish three-piece alt-rock band Cousin Buzz, jamming to an almost empty tent. I observed for several minutes, simply enjoying their gritty tunes before going over to say hi, give praise and, as everybody should, pick up a copy of their music – which I shall briefly review for you now.
This album, created in November 2016, is a 6-track
EP entitled The Killing Machine, and makes up 1 of only 2 albums this
band ever produced (their follow-up 2 years later being Greasy Fingers and a
Bad Attitude which I may give a listen to some time soon). What I think
drew me to this band in the first place is that they don’t sound quite like any
other band that I’ve ever heard of. Their songs are often bass-heavy yet highly
melodic, full of varied applications of guitar and percussion, and strung
together with sweet and sour vocals (by which I mean, there is a softness and a
harshness to singer Arthur Harrison-Ward’s vocals which seem to complement each
other).
Opening track ‘Oh My (So High)’ displays this vocal
harmony rather well alongside some tight metallic strings and a subtle drumbeat.
The backing vocals do tend to clash with the lead in the verses but harmonise
much better for the chorus. There are also some stellar, though slightly
discordant, guitar solos mixed in too, a feature which persists into ‘Crank It’
(though the second breakdown proves much more successful). This track gives off
a lazy Sunday vibe with its classic guitar intro, while Arthur’s vocals are
dealt in more of a laid-back drawl, but the bass comes across strong and smooth,
before everything amps up for the chorus, Arthur’s vocals now straining to new
heights.
Track 3, ‘Go to Sleep’ is among my favourites: the guitar
intro is softer with some fantastic metallic melodies and breakdowns, the bass is
clearer, the drums slower and laced with shimmering cymbals, and those vocals,
while still rough and nasal, are delivered carefully, gently even – at least
until the end. The final line is dealt with something reminiscent of Gerard Way’s
strangled notes from ‘I Never Told You What I Do for a Living’. In fact, almost
as if sensing that, there is a slip into something more melancholic for ‘Always
the End’, consisting of a simple guitar and drum tune, a strong bass backing, and
hauntingly perfect vocal duets, but with the added embellishment of a smashing
guitar solo, a cutesy little xylophone tune, and a vaguely psychotic closing
refrain. But I think, of the whole album, this song has the most depth and
indeed stylistic scope, especially when contrasted with the next song, ‘Quicksand’.
Uniquely, this song opens with a bass intro which kicks
into gear pretty fast, delivering a rapid, bass-heavy, but more upbeat tune, populated
by percussive drumbeats and smooth guitar breakdowns which help to carry the
beat. And that leaves us with the titular track ‘Killing Machine’ which again
breaks the mould, being pumped full of more attitude and swagger than any other
song. The drumbeats are strong and defined, the guitars harsher, but the bass nowhere
near as heavy as usual. Arthur’s vocals are back to their standard drawling
melody which melds well with the backing vocals until the end, where they seem
to crash into each other in a haphazard and messy overlaying. A bit of a
let-down for the final track but by no means a reflection of the album as a
whole, but there you have it; my not-so-brief review of a Cornish flash in the
pan. It is always a pity to hear that these obscure little bands never really take
off, but at least they had a fan in me!
Check out their Twitter page, and their Bandcamp below.
FULL ALBUM: https://cousinbuzz.bandcamp.com/album/the-killing-machine-ep
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