Bark Psychosis
Codename: Dustsucker

"Codename Dustsucker" is not an album, it is a sonic labyrinth with no way out, an elegant and raw representation of our daily life, transposed onto a musical staff.

Written in a world where speed, conformism, and hypocrisy embrace each other, it instead praises slowness, spontaneity, and sincerity. It seems disordered, at times dark, at times serene, extremely melancholic and suffering in certain parts. Time is the key: it progressively slows down, until it stops. As if to say "Stop for a second with me".

So, first and foremost, this is contemplative music.

But what is different here from Hex?

Everything.

Starting with Sutton's less immature voice. Here the vocal component gains confidence, charisma, and an overwhelming warmth, additional value that previously somewhat faded into the background.

The guitars abandon echoing arpeggios, the chorus makes way for acoustic guitar riffs, noisiness, ambient interferences, and experimentation. You will often find yourself psychoanalyzing every noise and giving it a precise placement, in vain, because as I said before, you are in a labyrinth.

It is not Hex 2, but its natural evolution and maturation. It completes it.

"The Black Meat" is the band's epitome, perhaps their best track ever. It has no beginning or end. It simply starts and goes its own way. The drums mark a rhythm dragged by itself, the bass is played in a suit and tie, the mood sunny and refined.  

When the trumpet solo starts, it's love at first listen.

It's true, at some points it seems like a mix of Massive Attack's "Mezzanine" with Sonic Youth's "Washing Machine", but it's all so intensely personal, clear, and smooth.

The jazz sounds are still massively present, indeed at certain points the trumpet solos take off, the xylophone percussions, the usual ingenious bass groove, the sweet notes of a piano.

But the novelty is the copious use of electronics, which is used with astonishing mastery. It doesn’t ruin the sound; it fills it, taking it to other shores, deeper still.

For example, "Inqb8tr" forces you to remain underwater, in apnea. The music proceeds and you are still motionless; there is a moment I adore when there is a reverb of voices and shrills of electric guitar. That’s the moment you resurface, only to sink again.

Pauses and resumptions, slowness and explosion, harmony and noise.

"Rose" is the missing soundtrack of Blade Runner to put it that way. An epic crescendo, which picks up the nightscapes of "Pendulum man" and envelops them in rain.  

Obviously, this group leads to obsession, inevitably, and if you want to appreciate it, you have to let yourself be carried away, like in life after all, right? How can you claim to have had an experience, whether good or bad, if you haven't put your soul into it? Be open, that's the message. Those who already know them understand well what I'm talking about.

"Codename Dustsucker" is for those who need to slow down or stop for a while, to find a foothold, to catch their breath or simply reflect while listening to music.