Album Review: Timelost - Gushing Interest
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Having only released their debut album, Don’t Remember Me For This, in the Autumn of 2019 Timelost have not been wasteful of the ‘rona-enforced lock-in and swung straight back into the recording studio for this follow-up.
Although the CV of drummer Grzesiek Czapla, he of Black Metal bands Woe and Infernal Stronghold, would not suggest Timelost’s latest, Gushing Interest, to be the kind of collection that you could readily kick back and relax to, the presence of Set and Setting guitarist, Shane Handal may intimate differently.
Completed by bassist Tony DiDonato and second guitarist Hugh Morretta, Timelost’s latest is a more mellow affair than their debut. Consisting of five original tracks and one cover-version, Gushing Interest is an emotional exploration set against the post-hardcore/ shoegaze soundtrack.
Referred to as Grungegaze, this amalgam of alt rock, post-punk and more have been blended into a deceptively light serving of seemingly innocuously inoffensive material. But once you start scratching at the surface a little, you’ll uncover some sweeping guitar lines and driving drums.
Gushing Interest opens with the big but low tempo chug of Better than Bedbugs, supported by an incessant rhythm section that does not know the meaning of the word ‘stop’. The foundation they create here, and elsewhere, allows Timeloss’ six-stringers to take flights of fancy with their instruments; sometimes wistfully poignant, while at others delivering unrelentingly hook-laden riffage.
While Don’t Remember Me For This had moments of sheer aggression, Gushing Interest is a far more refined guest, though that does not mean you can give it free access to the drink cupboard. Beneath the polite surface beats a raw and emotional heart that bleeds with every note of Deep End of the Cut’s yearning vocals and cymbal washes; that rages with Alone, Clean and Slow’s rhythmic fortitude; and that sobs tears of loss during Your Ghost Will Be Happy. All in all, it’s best to keep this one away from the gin.
Musically, Timelost adeptly deliver some remarkably widescreen sounds. Their blending of genres within the post hardcore sphere arrives like a polite battering ram and, while the vocals are rarely out at the extremes of the range, they provide an otherworldly commentary on the proceedings.
Gushing Interest closes out with a cover of The Psychedelic Furs’ Love My Way. Timelost’s treatment of the track is perfectly in keeping with the overall feel of the album as a whole, yet a little more upbeat. It is as though the track was written for this album as opposed to being almost forty-years old.
Far from a musically aggressive album, Gushing Interest is more likely to leave you with a broken heart than a broken nose.
