By Bruce Cowie
It has been said, by men with better beards than mine, that ‘all Post-rock sounds the same’, and to some extent, depending on where you draw the boundaries, that statement is not entirely unreasonable. It does seem, sometimes, that there is a rule book, a recipe, or a list of compulsory elements. This may or may not be a good thing.
Portugal’s Okkur have found that rule book and have chosen to follow it. To the letter. Even before you hear a note, you see the hazy monochrome album cover and the dreamy song titles and you know what you’re going to get.
But - oh, yes, there’s a ‘but’ – Okkur have done wonderful things with that list of ingredients. They’re all there, in the right order, and the finished dish is superb.
'Can You Hear Me?’s languid start gently e-bows itself into the prescribed mid-song peak, all shimmery washes of guitar, booming bass and splashy cymbals, drops back a bit for a quick breather, then crashes back in with an added garnish of soaring guitar. It all goes precisely to plan, and it’s quite lovely.
'Sparkles of White Light' follows, but if it wasn’t for the momentary break, you’d be forgiven for thinking it wasn’t a new song, as it continues exactly where 'Can You Hear Me?' ends. Perhaps they were written as two parts of the same song, or maybe they were intended to merge seamlessly, one to the next? Anyway...
The other three songs on this EP don’t offer any surprises – 'Asleep Under The Endless Sky' is a bit slower, 'Lost Worlds' is a bit shorter – but that’s just fine. It’s warm, summery post-rock. Gentle and relaxing. Joyful but not exuberant. I love it, really I do.
There are post-rock bands who explore and push at those genre boundaries, and beyond, but Okkur have built themselves a warm and cosy place right in the centre. Perhaps next time, they might try to stretch their obvious skills a wee bit and develop a more individual sound, but for now, if you are a fan of early This Will Destroy You, Caspian, If These Trees Could Talk and the like, you can drop by for a visit, sit in the comfy chair and have a piece of your favourite cake. You’ll feel right at home there.
You can check them out for yourselves at Bandcamp, where you can pay what you like for this sweet little EP. You can even have it for free, if you really feel you must. But I know you, you’re a generous kinda guy and you want to give Okkur some money, don’t you? Go on then...
