Ina Rush opens with a laidback, jazzy, freeform amble down dark, dangerous side streets before eventually veering into animalistic hoots and howls over dry scatting from the band’s three members; Antonio Iannola (guitarist), Gianpeiro Cacace (drums) and Mario Noviello (bass). It’s an arch and attention grabbing start to the record, like supper club Islet.
With seasick creaks and groans Happy On A Boat practically makes your room sway from side to side, guitar and bass twiddling in the background before everything erupts into crashes and flurries of demented clatter. There are occasional moments of addled guitar noodling, but for the most part this is an erratic and atmospheric piece that’s quickly shunted into place by the descending drums, slinky bass and barked yells of Breakfast For Villainous. Sometimes there’s a peculiarly exhilirating air of the band making it up as they go along, which when they erupt into ever increasingly frenzied explosions makes for a unique balancing act of controlled cacophony and dizzy, thoughtless nuance. Stylistically they’re an oxymoron, and fascinatingly so.
Dormiveglia has a to and fro like a Tom and Jerry cartoon that slips into finger snapping swaggers of hepcat swing with an ironically arched eyebrow. Closing track The Power of Erosion is a tentative slow number, creeping around the corners, occasionally a startled burst of noise here and there, by this point – despite the last track’s change of pace – some of Common Deflection Problems’ ticks start to become predictable and whilst there’s no doubting their talent it’s all the more thrilling when they toy with the listener’s expectations so firmly established and defined across the opening tracks of this EP.
A constantly interesting listen, despite a slightly fumbled final track, Common Deflection Problems are a fascinating bunch and this is another great record following on from 2009’s Naked EP.
[Rating:4]
