Wednesday 22 May 2013

UK PREMIERE: Silent Lions - ripe•people

Single review by kev@thesoundofconfusion.co.uk


Ohio's "premier supergroup" (if that phrase even counts for a duo, mind you they have an occasional third member) have just unleashed their latest track and it's a bit of a monster. At eight-and-a-half minutes long it would seem that 'ripe•people' is something of an epic, and in a way it is, just not in the traditional sense. You generally know how it goes with songs around this length: there's either a protracted build-up which results in a grand and overblown ending (see 'Stairway To Heaven'), or a normal song with a big, never-ending finale that seems to go on forever (see 'Hey Jude'), or they can just be dull, ill-advised lengthy bore-fests (see most of the others). Exceptions to the rule include certain drone-rock/kraut/psych tracks, or songs that are just plain good enough to last that long without interest waning.

Well that's a few possibilities, there are others no doubt (we haven't even touched on classical music), so which is the new single from Silent Lions? That's easy: 'ripe•people' isn't a slow-build, it's not a grand finale; it's one of those songs that's simply good enough to carry on twice as long as your regular pop/rock song without you even realising. You don't get bored, you don't feel that it's repetitive, it just works. Whether it's the speaker-busting bassline, the reverby vocals or the general power that's generated, they could probably make it 15 minutes long without sacrificing the quality. It's a wall of warm, buzzing noise that feels both urgent and vital, as well as laid-back and chilled. How they manage that is a bit of a mystery, but they do. Our job is just to listen to what is the best track we've heard from them so far. We're happy with Silent Lions calling themselves a supergroup if they're on this form.



Silent Lions' website






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