I must get this out of the way before anything else; Rusty Pacemaker is THE most ridiculous name for a band. Actually, Rusty is a solo artist and has been making music since 2003 although it has taken the Australian seven years to release anything solid so it would seem and there is very little info on him on the net. It has to be said that Unbekanntes is definitely going to be an album you’ll either really like or really loathe, and it is not going to be one for the masses to fawn over in their thousands that’s for sure. Things start off with the call of nature, tweeting birds and such before a heavy door slams shut and leaves us in a claustrophobic ‘Cell.’ Everything here is dark, dejected and indolent; guitars are minimal with a tear-stained fuzz and the bass comes through thick and heavy creating quite a lovely texture to the music and I really like the post-punk jangliness present on the album too.
The vocals are really understated and fragile, there’s a kind of vibe that says “I’m too sad and have given up on everything and can’t be bothered to put too much effort into my vocals at all” – which I mean not necessarily as a negative as I do like the hopelessness projected through them. That said, a bit more anger, passion and general oomph would perhaps give things a bit of variation as over ten tracks it does begin to get rather monotonous after a while. The female vocals are a really nice touch on ‘Mother’ and especially on ‘Amok’ – this one has a really dark moodiness clouded over it, while the female vocals haunt with an air of fragility. This one is dreamy and wistful and it’s hard not to see elements of Slowdive and Sigur Ros shine through on tracks like this. One can quite easily get wrapped up in the otherworldliness on this one and the following; ‘Waiting For Tomorrow’ has some nice jangly acoustics and pleasant guitar solos while the vocals have a crestfallen quality and I’m very much reminded of Fursy Tyessier’s Les Discrets on this one.
‘My Last Goodbye’ brings a heavier doom influence to the table with some strained and oppressive riffs I’d attribute to early Paradise Lost, and ‘Revolution’ treads the same lines too. The simplicity of their sound is really quite charming, although it does have the tendency with some of the songs to sound a little too simple and devoid of ideas, namely on ‘You Never Had.’ I love the minimalism and melancholic tone of this album and find it a really beautiful listening experience; some of the tracks are really appealing although at times things are a bit flat and I think there’s definitely scope for Rusty Pacemaker to improve. Still, an enjoyable album nonetheless.
http://www.rustypacemaker.com/
