Tremblers Of Sevens – Shadow Houses
NoiseAgonyMayhem Records – 2 July 2020
Of the many live performances that I witnessed in the ‘before times’ (i.e. 2019) two, in particular, were genuinely transcendent. One was by the unique i.o., a breathtaking math-rock drummer from Victoria, BC, who from technical and stamina perspectives was absolutely jaw-dropping. At the time of writing, he has 101 releases on his Bandcamp page, the latest of which comprises 171 tracks spanning over 87 hours, and costs $1. I kid you not…but I digress, as more to the point the other performance was by the equally singular, highly respected Tremblers of Sevens, who also hail from the provincial capital. I’d already seen this amazing duo a number of times, but on this occasion, at the Backyard Festival in Nanaimo, they absolutely tore the place a new one. Playing with increasingly ferocious intensity at crystal clear high volume, their set was such that all around me people were shaking their heads and laughing in disbelief, and at its conclusion, I was uncontrollably blubbing tears of joy.
However, while on paper this may sound like ‘just’ a balls-out rock ‘n’ roll outfit at full throttle, what’s so remarkable about guitar shredder Dan Weisenberger (‘Wise’) and puissant drummer Juli Steemson (‘Rad’ – who also loves i.o.) is that their thing is to reinterpret obscure old blues, acoustic folk songs, klezmer, and other international music in this wild, primal fashion. It’s a thrilling, winning formula, and there’s simply no other roots band like them, at least that I’m aware of. Yet framing these arcane tunes in their super-heavy style is no smug pose; these two are music geeks in general, versed in so many fields, and richly experienced musicians that enthusiastically gobble up all of the sounds they encounter when anywhere on the road.
Having released live sets and other bits and pieces, the blistering studio debut Aleppo dropped in 2018, so Shadow Houses is Tremblers’ second album proper. As with its predecessor Wise and Rad have drawn selections from an eye-popping array of sources and, for the first time, in Dark Church and Saskatoon Pawnshop they’ve offered up a couple of originals.
The album kicks off with The Bride’s Waltz in what has become classic Tremblers’ style – feedback and huge metallic chords instantly recalling Black Sabbath’s eponymous track. Beneath the rock power, it’s a klezmer piece written by Petru Ziguener, in this instance learned from a 1979 LP by Zev Feldman and Andy Statman. Up next, and a fine example of the invention and detail that Tremblers apply to their craft, is Nonesuch/If. A mashup of a 17th century English fiddle tune, Nonesuch – previously recorded by Dave Swarbrick and named for Henry VIII’s hunting lodge in Duddington, Surrey – and the short 1994 Latin Playboys song, If, in Wise and Rad’s capable hands the medley is given a beautiful desert blues-style makeover. With his weighty, world-weary baritone Wise shares a similar vocal quality with the Latin Playboys / Los Lobos star, David Hidalgo, and the track is bolstered by the presence of organist Danuel Tate from another excellent Wise project, Fans & Motor Supply Co.
An original instrumental, the snaking Dark Church was inspired by a visit to Karanlik Kilise (literally ‘dark church’), a domed 11th century monastic compound in Cappadocia, Turkey, and features noted viola player Richard Moody (The Bills / Brishen / Moody-Amiri). At 6:20, it’s Shadow Houses’ longest track, conjuring an ominous, sombre atmosphere. Another illustration of the breadth of Tremblers’ influences comes with the following choice of cover, Jason Molina’s It Costs You Nothing, from his 2006 Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go album. While the powerful original is based on a haunting pump organ, Wise opts for guitar harmonics and crunching chords, the result being as spine-tinglingly close to the gravity of Molina’s gorgeous recording as can be imagined. Next, another coupling sees the Romanian klezmer tune Volach – which, though don’t quote me on it, I believe was composed by 1920s klezmer star, Abe Schwartz, but definitely learned from Canadian clarinettist David Kaetz – hitched to, would you believe, Marbles, from John McLaughlin’s 1970 album, Devotion. It’s a pure two-parter in that the Volach section begins quietly, reflectively, but builds and builds until Rad’s monstrous drums usher in Marbles, yet a distinctly grungy, klezmer-ized take on the jazz-rock original. It’s an absolutely genius arrangement, frankly.
And then, as is Wise’s and Rad’s wont and like you definitely would not expect, a cover of Bert Jansch’s Poison comes next. Originally appearing on his 1969 Birthday Blues album and a long-time Tremblers’ live favourite, it is here transformed into a begrimed heavy blues with Wise’s feedback barely under control. In this age of coronavirus, the line I know that I might die from poison / Invisible hanging there in the sunlight bears considerable resonance.
The second original, Saskatoon Pawnshop, is another deep, unsettling blues augmented once more by Tate’s keyboard, in addition to bassist Jody Johnson (The Swiftys / Jimmy Payne & the House of Payne) and intoxicating, multitracked trumpet from the genre-straddling Canadian legend, Daniel Lapp. Wrapping up this astonishing album in comparatively joyous mood is a medley of A Nakht In Gan Edyn (A Night in the Garden of Eden) – composed and originally recorded in 1924 by (American klezmer clarinettist) Harry Kandel’s Orchestra – and Varsaver Freilach (The Warsaw Freilach), taught to Wise in 1999 by a Swiss klezmer musician in the Alpujarra region of Andalusia in Spain. He gets around, does Wise…
While the spotlight understandably falls on musicians, substantial credit for the big sound of Shadow Houses is due to producer Myke Hall, detailed in the sleeve-notes as responsible for ‘mics, knobs, delays, patience, pizza, and sarcastic abuse,’ and in beautifully housing this great batch of songs the Victoria-based multidisciplinary artist, Armand Wassink, must be noted for the intriguing sleeve design.
What next for Tremblers of Sevens? In doing what they do, this duo has literally the entire world of traditional music available to mine and subsequently translate in their own inimitable way. Wise has his talented fingers in many musical pies, including Fado, so maybe their take on apt examples from that canon, or else flamenco, traditional Greek music, Scandinavian folk, English madrigals, the music of Central Asia…and on and on, ad infinitum. Whatever they decide to explore in the future, just like Shadow Houses, it is absolutely certain to be beautiful and to rock like there’s no tomorrow.
Shadow Houses was released on July 2nd and is available now on CD and as a digital download.
WEBSITE: https://www.tremblersofsevens.com/
BANDCAMP: https://tremblersofsevens.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-houses
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TremblersofSevens/
Photo Credit: FINDING CHARLOTTE PHOTOGRAPHY