The High Confessions – Turning Lead Into Gold With…

The High Confessions – Turning Lead Into Gold With The High Confessions
Relapse Records

The High Confessions is new project that consists of Chris Connelly of Minsitry/Revco/Pigface fame, Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth, Stanford Parker of Minsk, and Jeremy Lemos of White/Light. These musicians have quite a diverse background and as expected the result of their combining forces is equally diverse.

The first song, “Mistaken for Cops” is the fastest song on the album. It features a pretty straight-forward beat with song angular droning guitars. It is a sort of Killing Joke/Joy Division like post-punk inspired tune and one of the strongest on the record.

The second song is a 17 minute track of a lot of low-key ambiance that doesn’t really go anywhere until about the nine-minute mark where it finally picks up the pace a bit and gets a little more interesting. The track is the one weak point of the album and would have really benefit from a lot of editing.

“The Listener” puts things back on track with its subdued drums and spooky bass lines. It sounds like what would be playing late at night in some Blade Runner-esque blown-out city while it is raining. Chris’ vocals sound great on this track and it is one of the more melodic tunes on the album. The droning guitar feedback adds to the somber feel.

The fourth track, “Dead Tenements” is my favorite track on the album. It starts off slow with droning guitar and low drums with some stern sounding vocals and slowly building into a harder and noisier song with some great drumming. It is a really interesting and catchy, unorthodox song. The guitar effects are really odd and interesting in a very hypnotic way. It’s like a modern take on art-punk that evolves into a post-punk style and this track alone justifies a purchase of this record.

The album closes with “Chlorine and Crystal” which the bass and guitar work is reminiscent of Faith-era The Cure with a bit of Joy Division. It has some sharp, great drumming and a prominent bass line over some droning, dreamy guitars. It is a strong finish to a rather interesting and diverse album.

For their first outing, The High Confession did an overall great job merging their different musical styles into an interesting record. Hopefully this collaboration will continue as they have a lot of potential.