Release Date: May 24, 2011
In the post-rock world, Efrim Manuel Menuck should be considered royalty. As a founding member of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, Menuck has staked his claim as being a forward-thinker within the realm of powerful ambient noise.
Recently, much has changed for Menuck. He’s fathered a child with longtime Silver Mt. Zion collaborator Jessica Moss, has reunited with GY!BE, and perhaps most importantly, released his solo debut. An amalgamation of songs that shows Menuck’s diverse style, Plays “High Gospel” shows him entering some new territory in addition to classic staples.
“Our Lady of Parc Extension and Her Munificent Sorrows” opens the record and Menuck immediately displays that anything could happen. Begging with grating feedback and ambient noise before singing atop the chaos, Menuck builds an aura of unexpectedness. The additional vocals from Katie Moore help Menuck find a way to turn this off-putting introduction into something palatable and borderline hooky. When drums enter the fold, it moves the song in a more traditional rock direction, but Menuck never sticks with convention for long.
Menuck’s constant exploration of sounds and styles is as much an asset as it is a hindrance. While Menuck has proven to be able to use field recordings in interesting manners, his debut struggles to figure out which way he actually wants the album to go. “A 12-pt. Program for Keep On Keepin’ On” pulsates, as manipulated vocals blare in contrast to the song’s subtle beginnings. It’s an engaging exploration, but after its nine-minutes ends, the piece ultimately suffers from poor direction.
Field recordings fall apart late in the album as well. “Chickadees’ Roar Pt. 2” is exactly what it sounds like: a recording of chickadees with added instrumentation. Granted, the songbirds don’t make an appearance until late in the track, but it is after the movement drops off, making no case as to why one should stick around until that point.
While much of Plays “High Gospel” is powerful because of its sparseness, Menuck takes some interesting creative leaps.
“Heavy Calls & Hospital Blues” is a stripped down piano ballad that comes out of nowhere and works perfectly. Menuck’s voice isn’t polished, and his vocal work has more in common with punk rock vocalists than classical singers. It could be a difficult listen if sour notes aren’t your thing, but the passion in Menuck’s delivery is undeniable. It is a surprise found midway through the album, and it’s placement helps make it one of the album’s strongest offerings.
Plays “High Gospel” does a great job of encapsulating and summarizing Menuck’s skills as well as his diverse taste. Unfortunately, the fact that the album goes from ambient field recording to borderline indie-pop allows for no cohesion. Instead, Plays “High Gospel” feels more like a collection of songs—albeit good ones—thrown together, then released. It’s a flawed work, but it’s also an intensely personal look into Menuck’s life that is well worth taking.
Efrim Manuel Menuck – Plays “High Gospel” Tracklist:
- “Our Lady of Parc Extension and Her Munificent Sorrows”
- “A 12-pt. Program for Keep on Keepin’ On”
- “August Four, Year-of-Our-Lord Blues”
- “Heavy Calls & Hospitals Blues”
- “Heaven’s Engine Is a Dusty Ol’ Bellows”
- “Kaddish for Chesnutt”
- “Chickadees’ Roar Pt. 2”
- “I Am No Longer a Motherless Child”
