Taupe

“waxing / waning”

(Minority Records MIN75)

Mike Parr-Burman – guitar, bass guitar, electronics, Jamie Stockbridge – alto & baritone saxophones, Alex Palmer – drums, percussion

“waxing / waning” is the third album release from the Glasgow based trio Taupe and follows “Fill Up Your Lungs and Bellow” (2017) and “Not Blue Light” (2020). The band also released the EP “Get The Keys” in 2019.

The title of the trio’s debut represents an apt description of their overall approach. Taupe’s music is performed with a furious, punk like energy that has elicited comparisons with artists such as John Zorn, Albert Ayler, James Chance, Melt Banana, Zu, Aksak Maboul and even Sunn O))).

Personally I see them as coming out of a glorious UK punk jazz tradition that started with Partisan’s “Sourpuss” album and which includes Acoustic Ladyland, Polar Bear, Melt Yourself Down, Led Bib, WorldService Project, Get The Blessing, Let Spin, Portico Quartet, Sons of Kemet and more. But most of all they remind me of Trio VD, who featured the same guitar / sax / drums instrumental configuration and whose music encapsulated the same scattergun urgency and ferocity. Indeed, Taupe’s debut album was recorded in Newcastle and produced by Trio VD’s guitarist, Chris Sharkey.

The new album was recorded at Dystopia Studios in Glasgow, which many commentators have found to be entirely appropriate given the trio’s approach. Longstanding collaborator Luigi Pasquini now occupies the producer’s chair.

Taupe’s music has been described as “a storm of skronk, free jazz and harmolodic frenzy” and as “claiming new territory, finding unique and novel permutations in which jazz, rock, electronics interbreed at breakneck pace”. These quotes have been culled from the “waxing / waning” press release and on hearing the music it’s hard to disagree with them.

I also like the quotes from some of the reviews of the band’s earlier work even more, with examples including these two gems;
“Music to punch things to.” – The Wire
“Like a pigeon stuck in a post-box.” – NARC Magazine.

Meanwhile the band themselves describe “waxing / waning” as “rather than provide an easy antidote or pleasant distraction, the sounds presented in this collection of music embody a visceral reaction, a scream into the expanse, a rejection of convention and numb conformity.”

I was also curious to hear Taupe after hearing my mate Steve enthusing about the dynamic live show that he witnessed at Colchester Arts Centre sometime in 2024 when they supported the Japanese noise rock duo Melt Banana.

Taupe was founded as long ago as 2012 when Parr-Burman, Stockbridge and original drummer Adam Stapleford were studying music together in Newcastle. Current drummer Alex Palmer joined in 2023 and makes his recording debut with the band on this new release.

Now re-located to Glasgow Taupe have toured internationally and have established something of a cult following. For me they represent an exciting new discovery, although I have heard both Parr-Burman and Stockbridge before. The guitarist is a member of the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra and appears on that ensemble’s latest release “20 / 20”. Review here;

I’ve seen and heard a little bit more from Stockbridge who appeared twice Brecon Jazz Festival with the Manchester based ensembles Dani Sicari And The Easy Rollers (2016) and Artephis (2018). More recently I’ve enjoyed his playing on disc as a member of the quintet led by Newcastle based bassist, composer and improviser John Pope. The Pope Quintet’s albums “Mixed With Glass” (2021) and “Citrinitas”  (2023) are both favourably reviewed elsewhere on this site. However a 2021 live appearance by the group at a Fizzle event at the Centrala venue in Birmingham saw the unavailable Stockbridge being very ably replaced by Tom Ward.

And so to the new album, which commences with “Lemonade Tycoon”, a track released as a single and which has actually managed to garner a bit of airplay. Staccato bursts of energy featuring saxophonic hooks and honks, alternately crunching / pointillist guitar and pummelling drums negotiate a dizzying series of twists and turns before eventually coalescing into a furious free jazz squall. Some of the riffing is almost frighteningly complex, these guys are seriously accomplished musicians. This is music where chaos and discipline sit by side. The overall effect is both technically impressive and thrillingly visceral, a glorious racket and a real musical roller coaster ride. One can see why this band must be such such a raw and exciting live experience.

The curiously titled “Anti-Bird-Spike-Bird-Nest” begins with the eerie shimmer of darkly brooding electronica before adopting the same kind of fidgety, staccato instrumental interplay that characterised the opener. There’s a neurotic quality to this urgent, twitchy, jerky music with the trio expressing a collective inability to stand still. Eventually they tip over the edge into another free jazz avalanche as the music collapses in on itself, almost in slow motion by the end. But the limbs still twitch and the heart still beats as the musical Frankenstein’s monster that is Taupe roars back into life even more furiously than before with a bout of thrillingly complex riffage.

The trio briefly take their foot off the throttle with the spacey atmospherics of “Interlude (Stride)”, featuring layered guitar effects allied to the dramatic sounds of Palmer’s mallet rumbles and cymbal shimmers.

Normal service is resolved with the often frenetic “allcapsallbold”, another tightly coiled bundle of taut staccato riffing with Parr-Burman again making good use of his range of guitar effects. As the piece develops it takes on a harder, more menacing edge, the increasingly ferocious riffing almost veering into heavy metal territory at times.

“Pet Boss” begins tentatively with nervous guitar and sax interplay, with Palmer adding subtle percussive commentary. Gradually the music moves out of obviously free jazz territory as a skittering, stuttering groove is introduced and we return to the trio’s signature sound of taut, claustrophobic staccato riffery, periodically breaking down into more squally free jazz episodes. Subsequently the music embraces some truly gargantuan riffing that the likes of King Crimson would be proud of as Stockbridge’s alto wails like a banshee. Eventually the trio return to the kind of gently exploratory interplay that we heard at the beginning. Taupe tunes do tend to take the listener on a journey, even though the route might be unfamiliar and comprised of a series of dangerous and scary hairpin bends.

The near ten minute title track offers the ultimate example of the trio’s twisted tales, emerging out of an ambient forest of spacey sound effects and rustling percussion. The atmosphere is ghostly and unsettling, but eventually Stockbridge’s wailing alto begins to clear a path through the sonic jungle and the music becomes more tempestuous as the sax screams, the guitar conjures up an all encompassing roar and Palmer sounds as if he’s trying to hammer his drum kit into submission. Eventually a peak of intensity is reached and the tumult begins to subside, plunging the listener into a twilight underworld distinguished by eerie guitar effects and the slow march of bass and drums. Eventually the drums drop out as the music voyages deeper into space with disembodied saxophone combining with ambient sound-washes.

The music segues almost imperceptibly into the closing track,  “Turn Push Kick”.  The spacey, ambient intro eventually morphs into an increasingly jagged motorik style groove. This is eventually succeeded by a brutally heavy section featuring thunderous guitar, the scream and rasp of baritone sax and the pounding of drums. It’s a riff cut from the same colour cloth as King Crimson’s “Red”, or maybe the closing section of Van Der Graaf Generator’s “White Hammer”. And in true Taupe fashion the music finally implodes, caving in on itself before ending in a flurry of guitar effects.

Taupe’s music won’t be for everyone, it’s loud, confrontational and frequently complex. Some will dismiss it as mere bluster or cacophony but for others, like myself, it makes for a quite glorious racket, a thrillingly visceral musical ride that offers more stylistic and dynamic variation than might at first be apparent. Taupe marshal their uncompromising music with skill, conviction and imagination and the playing is crisp, crunching and razor sharp throughout. It’s highly recommended to anyone who likes a bit of good, honest ‘skronk’ or who is a fan of pretty much all of the acts that the band themselves name as influences. I’d go as far as to say that if you’re into any of the bands that I’ve added to that list then you’ll probably dig Taupe too.

After hearing this album,  plus the first two releases, which I’ve since bought via Bandcamp as a ‘punter’,  I’d love to see the trio live. Unfortunately none of the upcoming UK and European tour dates come anywhere near me so I’m going to remain envious of Steve for a while yet.

Taupe’s upcoming live dates are listed below;

March 27th – Glasgow, Hug & Pint
March 28th – Edinburgh, Leith Cricket Club
April 8th – Eindhoven, POM
April 9th – Utrecht, Studio Patrick
April 10th – Amsterdam, OCCII
April 11th – Jena
April 12th – Würzburg
April 18th – Tilburg, Offroad Festival

Taupe’s recordings are available via their Bandcamp page here;
https://taupe.bandcamp.com/

See also;
https://www.taupetaupetaupe.com/

 

 

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