Collarbones
Iconography
(Two Bright Lakes)
Despite being written and arranged by two dudes living in different cities, Collarbones' debut record is surprisingly cohesive. The product of the interstate collaborations (or should that be collarborations? *cymbal crash*) between Sydney-based Marcus Whale and Adelaide native Travis Cook, Iconography is the disorienting soundtrack to a ride through multiple sounds and scenes: electronica, pop, R&B and hip-hop all seem to inform the duo's sound in equal measures. This has been Collarbones' best asset since Whale and Cook began fooling around together in 2007: they can't be confused with anyone else, they're on their own wavelength. Iconography is worthy of your attention if only for its unique individuality.
Describing Collarbones' music robs the experience of much of its pleasure, so here's a couple of cliff notes. Most every song is built around an eclectic selection of sampled beats, synths and instrumentation, all of which are chopped and shunted into a shifting mass of sound. The results feel organic and effortless, the effects beguiling. In spite of the disjointed nature of their compositions, the production smooths over most jagged edges to ensure Iconography stays on a fairly even keel. Whale sings on the majority of the album's 11 tracks; more often than not, his voice is discombobulated just as much as the surrounding instrumentation. Some of the album's best moments are lyricless; the hook of 'Id' - if it can even be called a hook - is essentially a symphony of swelling vocal samples, intercut with staccato beats. Previous singles 'Beaman Park' and 'Kill Off The Vowels' feature Whale's voice prominently, though the songs' moods are vastly disparate. The latter is bent around a dark, almost industrial vibe and lower-register singing; 'Beaman Park' pitch-shifts Whale's voice to improbably lofty heights. Both work incredibly well.
On a whole, Iconography is inconsistent. There are too many half ideas which pale in comparison to the fully-formed tracks. Four songs don't make it past the three minute mark, and while a lesser duration isn't always a bad thing, tracks like 'Transylvania' - a 50 second-long collage of mashed samples, played atop a rolling bassline - would've worked better if the ideas within were explored at length. The appearance of 'Transylvania' is jarring; it's wedged between the incandescent beauty of instrumental track 'Berlioz' and the slow-burn, volume-shifted intrigue of 'The Ghostship'. As it stands, though, Iconography is a solid debut which hints that - with a keener sense of self-editing and quality control - Collarbones aren't far from becoming great.
Andrew McMillen