John Knox Sex
Club – Raise Ravens
(Self-released,
2011)
Buy the album here
To
describe John Knox Sex Club simply as indie denies them the full impact of
their epic visions and immense musical power.
It’s a music that should only be played in the cavernous and echoing
halls of grand castles and cathedrals. Fittingly,
the vocals are delivered with the worryingly addictive vehemence of a preacher
sermonising on your sins, while the orchestral strings clash with the rhythm
section like the forces of heaven battling the demons of hell. This is epic indie with unbound scope and
musical ambition. Opening track, and 13-minute
behemoth, “Kiss the Dirt” does all of this and more with its cold, foggy,
Scottish morning opening gently strummed and lyricised, and its powerfully
cathartic peaks packed with Mogwai-like progressive dynamics. The heartfelt and beautiful vocals work
alongside the violins to cut through the intensity of the instrumentation and
provide a moving poetic exploration of modern civilisation. The lyrics are an epic poem of human history,
mythology, politics, fate, love and more that anchors itself to modern urban
life:
Link arms across
High rise flats
Or watch as our lives drop
Like dripping taps
In forgotten rooms
It
is an unfathomably good song; uplifting yet honest, musically epic but never
complex, “Kiss the Dirt” is an astounding way to open an album. The only problem being that it’s impossible
for the album to maintain this standard.
“Above
Us the Waves” is a beautiful song of longing that replaces the immensity of “Kiss…”
with lyrical and musical subtlety.
Passion is still a driving force here, but John Knox… ask us now to take
pleasure in quiet moments, gentle melodies, self-effacing hooks, and minute domestic
observations meeting grand nature similes.
It’s a comedown of sorts, but one that rewards repeat listens. From there an instrumental track leads us
from “…Waves” to the more outwardly post-rock slow build to powerful release of
“The Neighbours” and its memories of family strife in urban settings. A memorable chorus is supported by a twisted
bass line that winds itself around the gliding strings and escalating wails of
both vocalists, before ominously leaving us with the permanent and unresolved
danger of the line “like footsteps in the hall”. It’s another impassioned poem of urban life that
leaves the listener in awe. “Katie Cruel”
is a reworking of a traditional song that further develops the idea of a new
folk music in Scotland. The sparse,
gloomy atmosphere combined with the underlying distorted guitar sounds give
this traditional song a modern twist without overwhelming the strings and the
original lyrics. Where hints of
Harvestman peek through on “Katie Cruel”, the final track has a more accessible
Crippled Black Phoenix quality to it. A
noticeably warmer verse and guitar sound in “The Thaw” is interrupted by the
experimental, part spoken word, mid-section that layers light sounds in a
dizzying manner. John Knox… then find
their way gently to the uplifting and hopeful repetition of the album’s final
line:
The grass grows beneath the ice and snow
Produced
in small batches and packaged by hand by the band themselves, Raise Ravens is a unique view on modern
life in Scotland produced by a truly independent band. Never disavowing the past, never judging the
present, and finally pointing to the future, John Knox… have produced an album
that touches on all parts of life in Scotland.
While the lack of record company backing may have contributed to
multiple hiatuses, it is their independence that allowed John Knox… to truly
express themselves and deliver the beauty of this album to anyone who wishes to
listen.
