Lark - Funny Man

  by Erick Mertz

published: 23 / 10 / 2015

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Review

Lark is not just the bleeding wound. It’s the festering bruise and the dull ache that comes through the gradual healing process. The musical expressions of multi-discipline, London-based artist Karl Bielik, Lark is rife with turbulence and the fifth record, 'Funny Man' is simply difficult to digest without uttering a series of small (and at times, large) personal affirmations. Hearkening back to abstract/new wave bands like Cabaret Voltaire and Bauhaus (and I would say Joy Division as well, but that analog is as daunting as any other), there is a sense that Bielik evokes his emotions and peels back his layers of imagery from behind a thick veneer. There is a sense that everything Lark is about is an illusion. Bielik’s songs are gorgeous – if you look at the exquisite angles of impact at a car crash as some sort of sacred geometry. He sneers derisively on 'The Cupboard', a song featuring signature angular guitars laid over cold percussion, lyrics rattling on about stealing peaches off Grandma’s shelves. It’s haunting stuff, so specific, so acute and so nihilistic that you want to call out warning to the old woman. A more electro-noise track 'Fishing Trip' veers off in a down tempo directions, taking vocals to a Nick Cave route, slightly more emboldened, yet never mistaken for a whole and healthy song protagonist. Lark never really strips bare musically or lyrically, nor does it ever break into the catharsis it begs for. Bielik just guides the listener through rawer visions and tugs on the filthy bandage, teasing that barbaric sigh that comes from authentic release. Certainly the album’s title, 'Funny Man' is meant in jest – to be clear though, there is nothing “funny” on the record, whatsoever. By the time the second half of the album comes around, it’s tone is a little more smug, featuring songs like 'Jettison' which only wink at the void rather than sticks its crooked fingers down in it – but funny? No. Worth the agony, most certainly, yes. This album is also available on vinyl and on download,

Track Listing:-

1 Girl
2 Shakes
3 A Fishing Trip
4 Curtains
5 Funsize
6 The Cupboard
7 The Lodger
8 The Hood
9 Praying
10 Lost Words
11 Offshore
12 Jettison
13 Kitchens
14 Glue Me

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/LARK2012
http://lark1.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/Lark_2006
https://www.youtube.com/user/larkbieli
http://www.karlbielik.com/lark