There was a time when my much younger self would skip past instrumental music, disregarding it as “missing words”. As a writer words are the most important aspect of anything, words tell you a story, words add meaning to a song, words mean that you can focus on what they say and apply it to your own life. This was until I realised that not everything needs to be provided to you on a plate of words – sometimes you can imagine the story for yourself and make up your own words. This way you have already applied your own life to the story and not the other way round. It was after this revelation that the world of instrumental rock music opened itself up for me. This and then also discovering some amazing live shows performed by excellent instrumental bands. I’m talking about being mesmerized by the sheer intensity of sound; music that will leave you drained and fulfilled, the power of instruments to glue your feet to the ground and take your mind to another place. Think of bands like Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thought Forms, 65daysofstatic and my all-time favourites, Mogwai.

Anyway, I digress. To the subject on hand, The Brackish and their album Big Guys.

In my opinion, The Brackish are about to join the bands listed above in terms of intensity and talent. Big Guys is a collection of pieces of a misshapen puzzle, all fitting together smoothly with jagged edges. A somewhat doom, somewhat psychedelic, somewhat jazzy, somewhat progressive collection of music that sometimes borders on the edge of improvisation, the instruments constantly talking to each other. Some tracks bring me back to the very early days of Cathedral when they were pure Doom, at other times I can hear elements of jazz guitar with a rockabilly edge. These guys are insanely talented! Each track is like a melting pot for the ears. I would love to see them live as I can imagine they are loud, intense and brilliant. This is the type of instrumental music that speaks to me and makes me happy and sad and thoughtful and angry. Listen to it loudly in a dark room and you will feel a massive release, a certain purification. Try it and you will see what I mean.

I can try to sum Big Guys by The Brackish in more words, but at this point I think it would be better to let the music speak for itself. Big Guys will be released on Lava Thief on September 22, 2014.

Favourite tracks: Lightwood Reservoir and Chess Song

You can stream the album and read the press release over on Lava Thief here.

Check out other Lava Thief releases here.