Single Of The Week
An alliance born and reared in Oxford between Jonquil and Youthmovies, the Thick Mugs/Of Scramblers… (the full title’s rather long) seven inch was originally planned as a straight up split before become a fully fledged collaboration. Sharing a similarly intricate roadmap but diverging in different directions, Vertical Montanas is therefore the perfect opportunity to find some common ground between Jonquil’s cathartic, intimate folk and the equally complex, post-rock of Youthmovies. Not only does the release achieve this handsomely, the venture stands ever sturdily on its own two feet.
It isn’t an complete compromise – the original spit tactic remains beneath with each song having its routes in disparate camps. The slapping percussion and chorused “Norfolk, Norfolk” cries of ‘Thick Mugs’ goes very much to Youthmovie type while the rustling melody – and Hugo Manuel’s very lovely concluding “shoo-bee-doo-wah’s”
raggedwords.com
...Vertical Montanas is the collaborative venture of Youthmovies and Jonquil. This seven-inch was initially meant to be a straightforward Youthmovies release; then, the idea of a split with Jonquil was mooted. As sessions progressed it became apparent that a fully consolidated venture was the right way forward.
So what’s that offer us, then? Two drummers, three guitarists, individuals on trumpet, violin, piano and flute; plus vocals familiar and not so. The music’s in keeping with both separate projects, as you’d expect – comparatively complex when placed against the week’s other single releases for sure, but hardly stretching beyond any comfort zone given the baby-step nature of this limited-run release. It’s indie-rock for prog-bods, folk for those wanting more meat than bare bones. Guitar lines wander, amble, intersect. The drums have a jazz feel to them – loose, relaxed, but propulsive when urgency’s alerted. The closing “shoo-bee-doo-wah” vocals of ‘Of Scramblers…’ are a little too...
drownedinsound.com
