Thing of the Day
London's Rayographs release their anticipated debut album....
April
15th 2011
RAYOGRAPHS – Rayographs
(Desire) - There’s a very personal feel of open honesty to this debut
Rayographs album: an open book, alive with thought, alive with the
delight of discovery; of curiosities, journeys, celebrations,
commemorating, suitcases of memories, things in the topsoil, an album
alive as people’s lives evolve and a band’s thoughts come
together.
London’s Rayographs have always been rather special, rather different, and with this debut album, they’re becoming rather magical. Already magical. They have a sound that is both familiar and unique - a one-off version of West Coast psychedelic sound that's also strangely appropriate to their London roots. Deeper in now, a little darker sounding, they always have had an elegant enchantment but now the three of them have grown into their band, there’s a depth here that, for some reason, we didn’t feel we had the right to expect. I guess it goes with watching a band grow up in front of you. If the Rayographs had been from say New York or Chicago, and this debut album had just landed out of the blue then we’d accept its quality right away. Rayographs are a London band, exuding the smell of those dark venues; we’ve watched them evolve, their early gigs, demos, singles, we do have to do a double-take to reassure ourselves that this debut album really is this significantly good.
Their blues feel has richer depths: the psychedelic freedom of
Grace Slick, the darkness and mystery of Come, that vital edge of
alt.rockness, of a brooding Sonic Youth being Jefferson Airplane, the
90’s riot Grrrl bands adding an unconcious influence. Rayographs have
the confidence and the vision to more than pull it all off now, there’s
some serious musicians here, some serious songwriters, music makers,
creative minds not afraid to look into eyes. A darkly crafted
shimmering take on psychedelia, something that is very much of now as
well as then – timeless, dark vibrant colours, rich deep blues, dark
purples, steam-of-consciousness thought, atmospheric tunes, atmospheric
lines, words, delicate pieces that thunder when they need to. Sparse,
dense, so so alive and the sound of three people needing to be a little
more than just another competent London band who sound like all the
others, a band challenging themselves, taking risks, aspiring to a
little more than a decent review on page 43 of the NME. Proper
foundations, concrete, things to build on, a heady mix, Pixies, Patti
Smith, PJ Harvey, a rich sound – sonic, visual, literary, they’ve
carefully crafted their sound, honing it all over the last three or so
years, the three of them growing as one – Astrud Steehouder on guitar
and vocals, Jessamine Tierney on bass vocals, Amy Hurst on drums and
occasional vocals, three girls creating some kind of magical musical
chemistry
RAYOGRAPHS self-titled album is out on April 25th on Desire Records
www.myspace.com/therayographs
www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rayographs
...a couple of early Rayographs single reviews from past Organs:
30th JULY 09...
THE RAYOGRAPHS – Frances/Yellow Hair
(Everything We Know) – More from The Rayographs, good, we all need
more, second single from the three girls and they’ve built on all that
elegance and enchantment that we talked of last time... Built on it all
in a seriously good way with these two new tracks. They kind of mix a
classic riot-grrrl ethic with a PJ Harvey style Nick Cave blues feel,
more than that though, they're not that easy to pin down ... they’re
stark yet full bodied, wired yet rich, they really are creating
something that threatens to be special, they’ve got a dark edge, a
menace that you wouldn’t want to mess with. Sharp, atmospheric,
alive... Pixies good and who cares if Courtney is making a new Hole
record or not, Rayographs are fast becoming the band Courtney would
love to be in... that good... and only two singles in... fine
basslines, sharp drums, stark words, imaginantion, real blues.... One
of those stand out records that doesn’t often come along, one of the
genuinely exciting new bands...and how good is that moody riff at the
start of Yellow hair... catch this conversation, pay attention, this is
special.... www.myspace.com/therayographs or www.everyoneweknow.co.uk
ORGAN #278 OCT 16th '08 -
SINGLE OF THE WEEK
THE RAYOGRAPHS – Hidden Doors
(Everyone We Know) – Stark sparse warmth and a feral starkness, three
girls with their moody debut single, bit of a Jefferson Airplane Feed Your Head
thing going down, touch of Breeders. A debut seven inch single in hand
painted artwork. Dark blue and deep violet sounds, strangely good bass
lines, narrative impressions, Siouxsie swirls and out in the forest
folk drifts, with maybe a touch of something Patti Smith (or Rose
Kemp), there’s an elegance to their enchanting mystery, a seductive
come here and see what we’ve got, dark and dense and brooding and
something good brewing here.
