southern records

In 1995, the Chicago band Rodan split up and left being a single document of their achievements, Rusty, an album that combined stripped-down punk minimalism with baroque/classical stylings to stunning effect. Half of Rodan now record on Rachels, whose recent Music for Egon Schiele showcased a beautifully understated three-piece piano, cello and viola line-up. Rodan's guitarist, Jeff Mueller, now leads June of 44. Their second album, Tropics and Meridians, enlarges upon the promise of this ambitious and talented group of musicians. June of 44 have a sculptor's eye for graceful melodic curves and an architectural, mathematical appreciation of structure. Post-teens who thought Nirvana the last word in the American hardcore loud/soft trick and fortysomethings who assumed King Crimson,s self-conscious time-changes were as complex as guitar, bass and drums could get, should prepare for drastic reconsideration. Post-rock and truly modern, but with a craftsmanlike attention to detail, this is one of the first records of the next century. SL

In 1994, two great American bands released their final albums. For one of them it was to be their only one. Codeine and Rodan released the last two classic albums of guitar ambience. Codeine's The White Birch was an idyllic trip through angelic dreamscape, like some snow-covered wilderness. Rodan's Rusty was a lesson in sustained menace, great glacial lakes of haunting ambience occasionally pierced by howling guitar shark fins. When Codeine split, that was pretty much it, but when Rodan self-destructed, the warring parties splintered into separate fractions, Rachel's and June of `44. A rare thing happened, two bands both actually better than the single one they were spawned from.

Last year, June of `44 released their debut album, Engine Takes To The Water and Tropics And Meridians is the more than worthy follow up. The band mine much the same paths as Rodan, albeit without the sporadic blasts of rageful noise. This six tracker clocks in at just under 37 minutes and is by no means the home of three minute pop songs. It doesn't really feature songs, as much as elongated canvases of sumptuous, spectral aural paintings. Quite literally, art rock!

It begins with the longest track, the nine minutes of `Anisette', lurching on Doug Scharin's Shellactastic robotic drums and Fred Erskine's tightly coiled bass sound. It's not long before Jeff Mueller and Sean Meadow's duelling guitars roll in like ostracising oceanic fog. At no point dies the track's power and effect wane as it winningly trains its momentum over the epic length. Jeff's vocals pierce the cool dynamics in a very much Steve Albini stylee.

`Lusitania' is an atmospheric cherub of dead calm proportions, jarringly flecked with microscopic bursts of atonal feedback, used to great affect.

Instrumental, `Lawn Bowler' is a haunting galleon of ghostly milieu on a sea of apparition instrumentation, taking it's opening cue from eerie noisesters Main.

`June Leaf' echoes the threat of Rodan, while `Arms Over Arteries' revisits the lovely sounds of Codeine, whilst also bringing to mind the excellent music of 80's Canadian singer/guitarist, Michael Hedges.

Closer, `Sanctioned In A Birdcage' is a mass of Sonic Youth noises and the loose but structured groove of Polvo. Thankfully the ghosts of Rodan and Codeine live on, and I for one look forward to being haunted for a long time to come.