Fulborn Teversham - Count Herbert II

  by Sarah Rowland

published: 25 / 1 / 2007

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Review

There are so many words to describe music these days. Post funk, disco rock, anti-jazz acid folk pop, the list is endless and generally contains anything anyone can make up to sound like they know what they are talking about, when actually sometimes there is just not a word to sum up a band. Fulborn Teversham are one such band that simply can not be classified by mixing up a few genres in one sentence. This is because they have a bit of just about everything so the sentence would not only be stupidly long but also impossible to say with a straight face. ‘Count Herbert II’ is a quirky gem of an album that moves effortlessly from punked up drum beats to church organ, to honey laced sax to electronica and then throws in some distorted bass and edgy vocals just to top it all off. ‘Beachtune’ bounces along sounding at first like your run of the mill rock pop downloaded from Myspace, but then suddenly, and without warning, a sax line snakes it’s way into the mix transforming the song, and your expectations of the album, into something else completely. Although after saying that, if you are familiar with Pickled Egg releases your expectations may have been well placed as the bands they sign all seam to have an air of the unique and a twist on the unusual. Just when you think you have a hold on this album ‘Silent’ floats in with a wind instrumental backed by keyboard and some strange spacey jingley sounds (try listening to it then you describe it better.) The vocals on this song change from scratchy pop to eerie wonderment and again you are left wondering what is around the next turn. The answer to that question is Nintendo, but a bit of a dramatic version breaking into the synth and heavy drum beats of ‘Castle Music’, oh and also a bit of sax to confuse and amaze. If this review sounds a little confused to whether it is favourable or critical of Fulborn Teversham then I guess that’s because it is. This is one of those albums that you like but can’t quite work out why. There are quite a few reasons why you should, such as in demand drummer Seb Rochford and his music portfolio which includes a Mercury Music nominee for his previous band Polar Bear as well as drumming for Yoko Ono and appearing at the Patti Smith Meltdown concert. Sax player Pete Wareham’s impressive music degrees and jazz awards, singer Alice Grant’s distinctive voice and multi-instrumental talents and keyboard/pianist Nic Ramm’s lengthy list of projects which includes his own group Clown Revisited. Maybe it’s just a case of so much talent there is not much that can go wrong with 'Count Herbert II'. But then that’s something you need to decide for yourself when you are so intrigued by the many layers of this musical onion that you can’t help but have a listen.

Track Listing:-

1 Beachtune
2 Count Herbert II
3 Silent
4 Castle Music
5 Amazing
6 You And Me
7 Even If
8 Mara Song
9 The Love That Was Went Away
10 Off Song
11 New Transylvania
12 Empty Shell
13 Uhse
14 1515

Label Links:-

http://www.pickled-egg.co.uk/