RachelAPP – Burstin’ EP

RachelAPP – Burstin’ EP / 2005 Cats Rock The Boat / 6 Tracks / http://www.rachelapp.co.uk / Reviewed 19 April 2005

RachelAPP’s first track on “Burstin’” is fairly free from normal musical artifacts, singing atonally while noticeably created and arranged instrumentation illuminate the background. Disjointed music dominated “New Era”, which actually does make a sort of catchiness out of chaos. The track drags on slightly, but is ended without too much repetition before the three minute mark. The second set of vocals present on “New Era” really does nothing for Rachel’s own vocals, but does provide a sort of fill for the relatively empty high end of the track. The gothy synthesizer line on “My New Home” straddles the line between furthering the track and throwing it into full-blown mockery of serious music; Rachel here deftly moves away from the latter and pushes the track far into the camp of the former. The skidding tiretracks of the 90 degree turn that RachelAPP makes on “My New Home” really breaks up any tedium that the track might temper, leading nicely into “Is This The Place I Am Working For?”.

The sing-songy vocals on “The Place” puts two poles on the track, which Rachel goes back and forth between in rapid succession (which provides the listener with a nice, continually shifting focus). The doubling and slight temporal shift of the vocals on “The Place” vivifies the disc as a whole. Continuing to shake up eir sound throughout is the very professional sounding “All My Efforts”, which has all the bells and whistles of a late-seventies type of track. The inclusion of a very emotive bass line throughout the second half of the disc has to be one of the most solid decisions, as it really draws the music on “Burstin’” away from sounding like someone created it completely with their computer into what could conceivably be played on alternative radio.

The disc closes before one can get a definitive bead on RachelAPP. The number of approaches that eir makes throughout are diverse enough to place the replay value of the disc well above its contemporaries, and while the production of the disc is a little on the weak side, the soul is present, even abundant throughout the disc. I guess something is in the English water to make bands and acts like Angels Fight The City and RachelAPP approach music in much the same way and yet provide two different views on the same New York post-punk style of music, albeit a form that works well in the post-millennial landscape. Odd, but fun at the same time.

Top Track: New Era

Rating: 6.2/10