Nick Didkovsky & Mark Howell: Screaming Into The Yawning Vacuum of Victory

What am I in for here? 21 songs, and the total time is less than 17 minutes? The press kit states that what we have here are “short, dense, aggressively playful and inventive new works for electric guitar�. Didkovsky & Howell first worked together in the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet in 1989, and are now back together for this recording.

What I will agree with is that the tracks are short, aggressive, and have energy. You barely have time to take in what is happening before the next 'song' hits. This sounds like something I would have been handed on a cassette tape in high school of two guys just jamming and trading riffs in their basement. There are a few brief moments of tunefulness, but not enough to even consider this an 'album'....what is seriously lacking here are actual songs. Little short bursts and licks that occasionally spark some interest but as a whole don't add up to very much. "Automagically" is one of the most successful pieces here with its snaking King Crimson inspired interplay, but at well under 2 minutes, it's over before you know it. Perhaps taking some of the ideas thrown around here and instead creating one or two cohesive pieces might have made more sense? A short CD, a short review...song number 14 is called "Make It Stop", and you have to wonder if that is going to describe the feelings of many who stumble upon this release. We know these guys have talent, but this doesn't seem like the best example of it.

Track List:

1. Can You?
2. Fat Dad, Fat Son
3. Chunko
4. Snappin’ Boils
5. Twitch Code
6. Napkin
7. Takeout
8. Easy Action
9. On
10. Paper
11. Bust
12. Bunch
13. Carwash
14. Make It Stop
15. Paper
16. A
17. Mighty Bunch
18. Automagically
19. Luscious
20. The As Usual Dance Towards the other Flight to What is Not, Section G
21. Heat

Added: February 9th 2022
Reviewer: Eric Porter
Score:
Related Link: Artists @ Bandcamp
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Language: english

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