After the release of their 2017 album Death Express, Little Barrie suffered the tragic loss of drummer Virgil Howe, and the remaining two members of the group, guitarist Barrie Cadogan and bassist Lewis Wharton, took some time deciding whether they wanted to keep the band going. When they did choose to make more music together, they called in drummer Malcom Catto of the London jazz group Heliocentrics. The trio began jamming in the drummer's basement studio, liked what they came up with, and turned their ideas into a set of songs. Recorded simply on vintage equipment, the seven-song Quatermass Seven album crackles with energy and shines like a gritty diamond as the three players delve deeply into grooves so deep they feel bottomless. Tracks like "Repeater #1" and the supercool "After After" strut like the Meters fed through a buzzsaw, with Cadogan coaxing huge chunks of inspired noise from his guitar, Wharton rolling like a ship at sea, and Catto simultaneously holding down the beat and sending it spinning off into space. Songs like these, and the bass-heavy jazz rocker "T.R.A.B.S.," make it clear why Madlib released the session on his label. Others, like the moody "Rest in Blue" or the murkily psychedelic "Repeater #2," are heavier than granite and darker than a starless night. While one would hardly expect the band to be in a giddy mood, tracks like these tap into something truly menacing. It's a heady mix of vintage sounds, just like the band usually put on tape, but a little freer and tougher thanks to Catto's jazz background, the urgency of Cadogan's singing and playing, and the sense that the emotional stakes are a little higher. Check "Steel Drum" for proof of that. The record is a fitting comeback for the band, one that honors the sound that Howe helped create while giving it an impressive update.
© Tim Sendra /TiVo