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Reviews

Kurws — Powięź / Fascia
(Dur et Doux DD-055, 2022, CD / LP / MC / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2023-07-03

Powięź / Fascia Cover art

Kurws may be from Poland, but they fit right in with the French bands on Dur et Doux. The instrumental trio of Dawid Bargenda (drums), Hubert Kostkiewicz (guitar, waterphone, bells, chimes), and Jakub Majchrzak (bass) plays rhythmically complex music that is full of unexpected twists and turns, along the lines of PoiL or Ni, though with their own sound. I’m also reminded of the great American band Ahleuchatistas in their early trio phase. There are aspects of math-rock, though they rely much less on repeated patterns and more on constant choreographed changes. I’m going to call it “tightly controlled chaos,” by which I mean that while the music may seem chaotic at first, closer listening reveals that it’s constructed of precisely assembled parts. Kostkiewicz plays guitar parts that consist of very unconventional combinations — dissonant chords, scrapes, harmonics, and so on — assembled into patterns. Rarely will you hear anything that sounds like a “chord progression” or “riff.” There seems to be some looping involved, but that is neither a key component of the sound nor a standard use of looping. Majchrzak applies similar principles to his bass parts, though there are times when he’s playing single notes in a rhythm that allows the guitar to range more freely. Bargenda’s drumming is also unconventional, and sometimes even sounds like a wild section of a drum solo was cut out and looped — a busy pattern using the whole kit rather than a backbeat built up of kick and snare. As with many trios playing music mainly oriented towards rhythm, there’s not much melody to be found, but for the length of Powięź, I find the lack to be acceptable. At greater length, I would love to hear a sax or violin or something else brought in, but this is a quite enjoyable album as it stands. Fans of tricky music who are tired of stock math-rock bands would do well to check out Kurws.

Filed under: New releases, 2022 releases

Related artist(s): Kurws

More info
http://kurws.bandcamp.com/album/powi-fascia

 

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