Ah yes Planks, I vaguely remember you from last album Funeral Mouth back in 2012 and looking back to the review made the puns about them having a wooden name and nailing things then. This will be the last time for that though as this the fourth album from the self-described German players of ‘gloom core’ would appear to be their swansong as the group have since recording gone and called it a day. Again there’s lots of interesting names of yesteryear thrown around in the PR blurb describing their sound as influenced by the likes of Swans and My Bloody Valentine but the biggest influence is main songwriter Ralph’s love of The Cure with their evolvement of albums each apparently being likened to various discs by Robert Smith’s troops. I missed the first couple of these including Planks homage to my favourite Pornography and here we aptly have their Disintegration but honestly I would look upon this is fleeting and tenuous. Even if you are a fan of Crawley’s finest you are still going to have to dig deep within Planks rugged post rock posturing to find any real semblance of numbers like ‘Pictures Of You’ and ‘Fascination Street,’ the epic 11 minute instrumental closing piece being the real place to look.
Still in moments of fragility these ghosts may well crop up as they tail end things with the two part The Sacrifist, the first of which hammers in and obtusely goes for a gnarly sludge laden tumult that’s both obstreperous and jarring. After comparing to its ‘Kiss Me, Kiss Me Kiss Me predecessor it quickly strikes as a lot harder and angrier and if this is a band that were on the verge of folding they are doing so with some sharp, slashing riffs and plenty of angry bravado. Breaking this first pounding morass up with some moments of glistening fretwork is a good idea and as it batters back in it means that things strike as all the more volatile. It’s more of a Neurosian , Isis weight going on here than anything quite so delicate and Indiefied as suggested but the band are proficient at showing both sides of the coin with shades of light and utter nihilistic darkness, no doubt in line with the albums concept of emotional desolation and exile. Nothing Will Ever Change hints and abandonment and bleakness and by now the sharp shimmering guitar work should have gotten claws in as it is joined by some clean vocals that rise magnanimously to ever greater heights. It’s all well textured and visualised and I can see this as a small but notable raise of the stakes compared to the album of three years ago.
Things pretty much continue in this fashion and this really strikes as an album with plenty of weight about it no doubt enforced by a really brash and up front production allowing everything to boom forth solidly in the mix. It’s one to ride along on the backbone of the furrowing grooves and cling on tight as it tries best to throw you off like a bucking bronco at a rodeo. There’s a lot of depth and atmosphere to be found too but it is mainly of the ugly and indignant kind, the death throes of a band not willing to go out quietly in the slightest. ‘She Is Alone’ doesn’t exactly mellow the mood but allows things to drift a while with some added female vocals amidst the melancholy gloom of the track. It’s the wide, panoramic feel of ‘Only Now’ which has a post punk edge from its staccato riffing though that gets the attention and shows the band at their most adrenalized, really going for it and hitting the mark. Going for an instrumental option on both the title track and with the finale 2nd part of The Sacrifist which questions ‘What Does Walking Away Leave Us’ strikes as quite a bold move but with one section of vocal anger in between and some juggernauting riffing it works well to bring things to a conclusion. Planks may have walked the… but they have done so in style and I doubt the trio behind this are going to be off their game long before turning up again in new and interesting projects.
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
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