ZapTown

Sebastian Blanck
Alibi Coast
Rare Book Room
Rating: 3.7 out of 5

Link: http://www.sebastianblanck.com/

If we can spin Sebastian Blanck and weave him into a novelist and not a musician, we can consider Alibi Coast to be a shocking twist in the story of the strange and bizarre. Blanck has been noted in the indie community as the co-founder to the electro-noise experimentation of Black Dice with strange and grotesquely illuminated songs that are sometimes danceable while mostly being convulsive and implosive like “Ultra Vomit Craze” or “Cone Toaster.” These are songs that will make your ears melt.

So you can imagine the shock and confusion in my face when I heard the soft and elegant guitar textures of Alibi Coast. No blips, bleeps, muffled or over-produced-beyond recognizable electronica, only the singer and songwriter himself. Of course, the question that immediately pops into my head is why did Blanck convert to the extreme opposite end of style. But that is for further contemplation and a deeper level of research beyond the surface level of this album.

When you hear the almost trembling fragility of “I Blame Baltimore” you will be baffled as well. But once the ‘what the hell’ moment fades, you begin to realize what an incredible singer/songwriter Sebastian Blanck is with his road-weary tales of geography and natural forces that illuminate both inside and out.

“Thunder” is early ‘60s contemplation while “Don’t Let the Darkness Gather Me” moves at Simon and Garfunkle speed while showing us that Blanck’s vocal style goes beyond dismissible alt-folk. For Alibi Coast we feel the familiar, from the darkness to a sobering brightness of “Empire of the Free,” a tale that bears similarity to something John Vanderslice would write. Blanck lays it all out there with “Cloud Lining.” The vocal layers give it depth, but even then, this and a song like “At Arms Length” is where we feel like we really get to know Blanck.

And no matter who he is singing with — half of the album is peppered in with guest female vocalists that give this album a degree of spice and austerity — he is able to adapt to the varying vocal styles and make these songs expressively his own.

The songs will end up sticking to you like the summer heat or a snowy winter’s day. Either way his words will spin around your head like a parabole.

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