BERRIES have well and truly stepped up to the mark with their second album, a self-titled record which comes just over two years after their debut, ‘How We Function’. I’m not sure if the “difficult second album” is still a thing, but, anyway, there’s no hint of that here.
The trio have found their niche and settled comfortably into it. Since their inception, this band have become known for taking a subtly unpredictable approach to their alt/garage-rock sound. Yes, there are plenty of familiar elements of that genre: a raw and sometimes sparse quality, plenty of sharp drums, memorable riffs … But BERRIES frequently add jagged edges where fuzz may be expected: sudden stops, trips and jumps. This is demonstrated well on ‘Jagged Routine’ (aptly), the band’s most recent single. That one starts with chugging riffs over a formidable bass guitar line, held up by punchy drums. But just as the path of the song becomes clear, there’s a complete halt and two to three seconds of silence before the first chorus. Later, BERRIES throw in a whining guitar solo, lengthy drum fills, fistfuls of cymbals and call and response vocals… They’re really giving it their all here.
We’re getting ahead, though: ‘Jagged Routine’ is buried deep in the eponymous album, preceded by five other tracks. The record opens with ‘Barricade’ which is announced with rolling toms before pulling back into a more sparse, sketchy verse. ‘Creature’ follows, glitchy and jumpy from the get go, with thin guitar lines spelling the way. It’s with tracks like this that BERRIES may divide opinion; they’re clearly emboldened, with a clear mission. Some may interpret their approach as a little ragged at times, the strident vocals erring on rowdy or undisciplined at times. But that’s exciting, too – it’s a second album but BERRIES are hanging on to what they hold dear.
The song ‘Jagged Routine’ is all about a need for variety and unpredictability, and that seems to be a theme of the album as a whole: challenging safe or established notions; reclaiming strength from anxiety or intrusive thoughts. In ‘Blurry Shapes’, the band have latched on to a rapid, twiddly riff and are not going to let it go easily – it does a good job of providing stability through a song packed with disjointed motifs, musically echoing the inherent theme of the song.
‘Watching Wax’ ups the ante with an even more catchy guitar part, a pleasingly metallic sound which is the harbinger for much bigger, more sweeping themes later. A lot happens in this track, where BERRIES explore more deeply the idea of finding rest in the midst of anxiety, all the way up to a well-judged but sudden ending. This provides a good way into ‘Balance’, the most stripped back track on the album. For the most part it’s just vocals and an acoustic guitar, with bass notes joining later. The song weaves a fascinating path through unplugged grunge to (when the vocal echoes and harmonies appear later) something almost approaching trad folk, with a fresh outdoor feel.
I’ve mentioned ‘Jagged Routine’ enough already, but it’s worth mentioning its heroic, feedback-descending outro which melds tastefully into ‘This Space’ (another exemplar of the BERRIES approach, where the music almost seems to trip over itself in its rush and urgency).
The final trio of tracks feels like a switch-up of gears: ‘Narrow Tracks’ is sonically rich and notably firmer in contrast to what’s gone before; ‘Control’ at first harks back to classic rock with its soft, muted power chords but is then punctuated with spaces, brought on message; and we’re bid a no-nonsense farewell with ‘Crumpled Clothes’, where vocalist Holly sounds urgent, battling buzzy guitars to the end.
This is a second album which cements BERRIES in place as a particularly interesting band: a group who are keen to do their own thing, playing with and challenging the boundaries of their genre(s). The result is a more abstract, sometimes playful, sometimes obscure means of writing and delivering their songs. There are a few rough edges and some may want those smoothed off; but those areas of friction can also be seen as important artefacts of what makes a band like this tick. That’s entertainment.
7/10
Words: Phil Taylor
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