Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Album Review - Evangelista

Evangelista – Hello, Voyager
[Constellation Records; 11/03/2008]


Despite being born in New York, in many respects Carla Bozulich (now residing in Los Angeles) is the West Coach equivalent to Lydia Lunch. Dabbling in various forms of art, creating in many shapes and forms, it was Bozulich's solo 2006 album Evangelista that gained a plethora of critical acclaim. Naming her latest project after her last album, along with some different musicians, Bozlulich unleashes Hello, Voyager.

'Lucky Lucky Luck' trickles with the sound of alternative country while her label mates, A Silver Mt Zion unleash some influences, with screeching instrumentation rumbling under the framework. 'The Blue Room' is a disjointed ballad with rigid guitars that are plucked out of time and Bozluich's unconventional vocal is shed for the whole world to hear. 'Truth Is Dark Like Outta Space' is a punk number inspired by the New York No Wave movement, but extruded with a little more accessibility, while 'Frozen Dress' establishes yet another example in genre hop-scotch with evocative sheets of noise peering through cracks of the wall.

Hello, Voyager is a release that genre-surfs from song to song, making it very unpredictable, which essentially is what art is all about. With the listener on the edge of their seat with ears pricked and eyes wide with intrigue, Bozulich's latest batch of songs certainly have the ability to unease. Depending on how one approaches their music will purely determine whether they strike a chord with this release or not.

By Simon K

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