The Syllable Section - Linear Views (Independent)
The Syllable Section is essentially multi instrumentalist, Matthew T Marquardt, on everything from blown bottles and bells, to guitars, with drums by Brian Green. They make multi, multi layered songs that cannot fail to evoke their influences. They never quite result in pastiche but blend a screwy mixture somewhere between new-wave and psych-pop. The focus seems to be to cram as many tracks onto each song as the studio software will allow.

The stop cut editing and rapid shifting of pace, patterns and genre could be likened to the techniques embraced by Zappa or Brian Wilson. The vocals tend to recall the madcap wailings of Syd Barrett or, as on  “Doesn’t Happen Much”, sound like a partly submerged Marc Bolan. The angularity of “Direction and Go” wears a Devo badge whereas more reflective harmony moments sport an Animal Collective t-shirt.

A lot of time and effort has undoubtedly gone into this record where the best qualities and styles of lots of artists have been instilled into this frantic and deranged product but overall it has a tendency to knock the listener from pillar to post and it overwhelms any catchy melodies with too many layers. They need to rethink the “more is more” concept!
www.myspace.co./thesyllablesection
Willsk

THE MAKING OF LINEAR VIEWS BY THE SYLLABLE SECTION

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