Spencer Robinson uses the eccentricity of The Velvet Underground with a vocal delivery of Nick Cave. As the former bassist of psychedelia soaked The Lords of Altamont for five years he performed alongside: The Who, Pixies, Depeche Mode, and X to name a few he honed his craft musically. Before he was a musician he lived as a professional gambler. And with those two professions under his belt it’s assured his debut EP Standing at the End of the World will be keeping anyone at the edge of their seat.
“Standing at the End of the World” begins the EP solemnly and powerfully. Double guitars just flow like waves against a ship carrying souls in the unknown. But at the forefront of everything are Spencer’s vocals which are delivered in a style similar to the writing of J.D. Salinger. They’re clearly leaking emotion. But you only experience as little or as much as the artist wants you to. When I listened to “Say Hello to the Devil” I noticed a jarring mashup of time signature disorienting the listener. This perfectly bleeds into the desperate subject matter we’re feeling with. It’s a winding experience. The gravelly and insanity soaked “Tunica” is a tale that could only be inspired by a gambler. Even the the guitar seems like it’s weary of giving up anything at it at first but little by little more and more is given up. It’s a genius examination of the mind and body that can have everything or nothing. Anything in between isn’t an option. Acting like a short fever dream like lullaby “Spider” has love soaked surreal lyrics that’s a perfect bridge between two heavy subject mattered songs. It give you a minute to examine everything including yourself and what you might lose. Wrapping up the EP is “Don’t Need No Jesus”. Have grown up in an atheist house has formed me into someone who will likely never understand the concept of God. And because of that I’ve never been able to understand a higher power. And this song, to me, really asks what a sin is. Are our lives supposed to be lived for us or for something we can’t see. And for me, and I think for Spencer, too, it’s the former.
The whole EP a sneering batch of imperfections that Spencer doesn’t try to fix up. Instead he’s proud of the life he’s lived. He doesn’t caution against living. He cautions against hiding who you really are.
A limited edition cassette of Standing on the End of the world will be released on February 1st from Solid 7 Records.
Richard Murray, Pow Magazine
rdmurrayiii at gmail dot com
