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While retaining the eerie, claustrophobic atmosphere of its predecessor, the second LP from Portishead mastermind Geoff Barrow's krautrock project boasts a brisker, more purposeful sequence.
Beak> are creating music that is for the most part wonderful, wonderfully fucked up and definitely not addressed in any way by the term "side project".
BEAK> could be considered something of a self-indulgent side project for Portishead's Geoff Barrow; a jam-band for a frustrated krautrock afficionado to mess about with while his successful main project is on hiatus. Fortunately, this is far from true. From the creeping, understated atmospherics of opener The Gaol, the band grip the listener by the hindbrain and refuse to let go. There's more than a hint of Can in the guitar playing on tracks like Spinning Top, but the half-heard, pedal-processed vocals owe more to stoner rock; and the steady pulse of analogue synths beneath tracks like Yatton and Ladies Mile bear the telltale signs of influence from Barrow's recent DROKK project.
<p>The second album by Geoff Barrow's other band is impressively menacing, writes <strong>Phil Mongredien</strong></p>