Bark Psychosis
Independency

The definition of "raw" is the typical cliché used when one encounters the various EPs of a band at the dawn of their artistic journey. In the case of "Independency" by Bark Psychosis, the official collection of the band's debut EPs, a hypothetical use of the term "raw" or any synonyms would be a significant inaccuracy.

"Independency" was finally released in 1994, the same year as that undisputed masterpiece known as "Hex," underestimated yesterday, forgotten today, a musical gem both dark and fascinating, and persuasive, an outlet for a (too) small "niche" audience, for a band that instead marks the opening testament of modern "post-rock" (in collaboration with Slint and Talk Talk).

The story of "Independency" thus begins six years before "Hex": 1989, Graham Sutton & Co. soon manage to gain recognition from a small record label, "Cheree," which accompanies them in the release of their first EP "All Different Things," a composition with extraordinary emotional impact, with a passionate, optimistic, and dazzling melody, interspersed with a mild noisy surge of guitars and drums; a first attempt far from the dark urban alienation of "Hex." The progression of the singles continues with the EP "Nothing Feels," and its eponymous track extremely minimalist, with instruments stripped to the bone, laying the groundwork for the first absolute dominance of that "sonic poetry of silence" practiced through electronic instrumentation, and embedded in Rock and Jazz frameworks, contributing to the creation of a psychedelic and evocative musical fabric, perhaps constituting the peak of Bark Psychosis' sonic experimentalism.

The EP then proceeds with the sweet and sentimental dream-pop ballad "I Know," where, over a few guitar chords, Sue Anderson's ethereal voice stretches in a harmonious and heavenly veil, in a composition that strongly references the dreamy pop of the better-known and modern Sigur Rós, who evidently owe a debt to the London four. A moment later, it's time for "By Blow," which decisively departs from the singles just described: now we are not witnessing the dreamlike and poetic scenarios of the previous singles, as the tone shifts towards a noise, obsessive, and diabolic sound, demonstrating the influence of bands like Sonic Youth and Napalm Death, then highly in vogue.

In the brief journey of Bark Psychosis, 1991 marks the departure from the "Cheree" label and the move to "3rd Stone Records," with few changes from a sound perspective. These are the years of the EP "Manman," with its namesake single and its imposing and dark electronic Drum and Bass, "Blood Rush" with its soft and seductive melody, while more complex and avant-garde arrangements characterize the other track "Tooled Up".

In this array of EPs, the true monument is represented by the last one: "Scum"; both chronologically and in terms of sonic construction, it represents the true prelude to "Hex"; it's 20 minutes of dark and desolate ambient, built on a few bass and guitar lines and a faint jazz drum, in a composition tailored to provide a setting for a gloomy post-metropolitan scenario in a nighttime hallucination, marked by the overflow from any objective space-time dimension, letting oneself be transported helplessly in an extreme sensory-perceptual dilation, in a hallucinogenic journey, in a great cognitive experience, as fearful and dark to oneself. Psychedelia at stratospheric levels, to put it plainly. Music that reaches peaks of passion, extremely intimate, introspective, "paranoid" music at the edge of delirium in its alternation between enchanting sounds and obsessive and restless rhythms, in a constant back and forth between starry skies and infernal underworlds, between dream and self-destruction. The music of Bark Psychosis is this and much more.

In conclusion, "Independency" is much more than a simple collection of "raw" or "immature" EPs, as it represents the first splendid and fundamental steps taken by the band towards the complex and mysterious territory of "Hex."