Review:

on 2011-05-27 CharlesMartel Said:

Oblivion is a strange thing. For some, oblivion is a refuge from the day to day cares of the world. For others, it is a hiding place from the prying eyes and inquisitive questions of unwanted intrusion. For others, oblivion is a place of banishment. But all those circumstances of oblivion are as a direct result of an action. True oblivion rests in the fact that the term derives from a Latin word meaning forget.

Oblivion is the place where the Red Temple Spirits live. Like most people, I had never heard of them until their name cropped up on a torrent uploaded by a guy who specialised in the most arcane and obscure examples of eighties music. I downloaded six tracks, as I usually do when checking out an album, and decided to buy the album before I had even reached the end of the first track. It was then, that the true consequences of the word oblivion began to affect me. Buy a copy!? You must be bloody joking. It was released as a double vinyl and a single CD way back in 1988 and has never seen a re-press in either since. If a copy turns up in my field of vision it will be a near miracle.

So what is it about this album which so caught my attention? At first, it sounds like a post punk album. The familiar guitar sound and deep, resonant drums of bands such as the Chameleons, the Sound and, to a lesser extent, the Cure, dominate. But it is so much more than that. Closer listening will demonstrate that the band had stepped beyond the confines of the genre which many have pigeon-holed them. They make extensive use of other instruments, such as Tibetan yak bells, as well as a variety of natural sounds, birds, wind, rain and water gushing. The more you listen, the more you realise that this is more than post-punk. This has elements of sixties psychedelia, prototypes of what would eventually be called post-rock, as well as influences from folk and even jazz. This is an album which could have moved eighties music in an entirely different direction. That it never did is solely down to that place called Oblivion.

The Red Temple Spirits hail from Los Angeles and have managed to take the best of UK post-punk and give it an entirely new edge. "Dancing to Restore an Eclipsed Moon", their debut, is as astonishing a first album as you are likely to find anywhere. Debuting with a double vinyl is going to take some courage, as well as something special to succeed. But succeed they do. This really is something very special indeed.

The album's eleven tracks begin and end with a dual-titled track. There is a mixture of short, memorable numbers together with three longer, more thoughtful ones, including the two aforementioned. The lyrics are heavy on spirituality, with frequent references to God and Jesus, though you never get the impression either that the album is proselytising, or even that the band members hold strongly to the Christian faith. The latter view is strengthened by the fact that the second part of the first track refers to spirits of the sun, while references to levitation and out of body experiences appear elsewhere. Spiritual, yes; directly religious, unlikely.

But it is the music which captivates the listener. I am always a little chary of bands who adopt a sort of in-tune-with-nature stance and bring in the sounds of nature into their recordings. It makes me fear that I am going to be subjected to a bunch of hobbit-botherers droning on while tunelessly banging hollow tree trunks and wittering on about communing with the flowers. In other words, the threat that such an album will end up being a psychedelic drug-induced drone or a prog-rock bore puts me on my guard. No such worries here. Most albums which attempt to combine spirituality and naturalistic sounds fail miserably. This one manages it without a hint of pretension.

If I had to pick a favourite track, it would be "Dreamings Ending" but that should not be seen as in any way as a criticism of any other track here. Then again, if I had a criticism, it would be the overly nasal vocal style of singer William Faircloth, but even that does not detract from the overall quality of the album and seems to fit by adding a somewhat plaintiff tone to the mix. "Dancing to Restore an Eclipsed Moon" is a true rarity in my collection, a genuine ten star album. I shall be looking out for a copy of this wherever I can find it, but if there is any justice in this world, someone like Renascent or Rhino will get the rights to this and reissue it. The Red Temple Spirits do not deserve to languish in oblivion.
Rating: 10/10