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AlbumREVIEWS: 'Hobgoblin' by sajama cut
Hobgoblin, Sajama Cutâs fourth record released in June, couldnât have come any sooner
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Hobgoblin, Sajama Cut's fourth record released in June, couldn't have come any sooner.
After all, it's been five years since Manimal, arguably Sajama Cut's first foray into indie rock. Or better yet, it's been 11 years since The Osaka Journals, that one album celebrated as the pinnacle ' or as the cynics would have it, the peak ' of anyone's career.
It only made sense then for Sajama Cut to take some time off. And some time off it sure was: Hobgoblin is Sajama Cut's most ambitious album, which not only elevates the sounds they established before, but manages to do so terrifically. In short: buckle up.
Although Hobgoblin is a punchier record in a way that the guitars sound more proggy and layered than usual (although the drums are less pronounced), it is also quieter.
Frontman Marcel Thee contended that the album was predominantly written on a keyboard, instead of a guitar. The idea behind it percolates in so many ways that breaking down each track is some depressing work.
Take 'History of Witches', for example, or 'Fatamorgana' with eerie synths that open the songs and let them stay afloat. Hobgoblin could sound very insular and overwhelming, but that was the whole point. Also, the louder songs like 'Bloodsport' and 'The German Abstract' sound like they benefited from a lot of rewrites, instead of suffering from them.
Part of what makes Hobgoblin a great record (instead of simply a better record) is its renewed appetite for sonic ambitiousness. Simply put: when the songs are let loose, they soar.For instance, the career-redefining 'Curtains for Euro' begins with a dismal percussion and around the 2:30 mark, the tempo gets quicker, the percussion gets more manic and the vocals get real.
But Hobgoblin isn't a reckless record, because every time the songs take a turn for the spontaneous (which they do, a lot of times), the production is still handled eloquently. See, there's a balance here, not a quality shared in The Osaka Journals, Manimal, or Sajama Cut's debut Apologia.
While they do share the same connective DNA in a way that they were written by the same person, Hobgoblin is the most focused of them all, partly because it took more risks getting there.
There are times, however, when the record meanders. Having three instrumental interludes in an 11-song album is a risky move and although it pays off, there are small moments that simply don't work.
'Beheadings' is actually an anticlimax after 'Curtains for Euro', making the song sound more like a filler. But the ambient number 'House of Pale Actresses' is a great instrumental because it has enough to stand on its own.
Finally, the closer 'Rest Your Head on the Day,' which starts off like an old-school indie rock number before it teeters into an ambient coda ' almost like a whisper, is a seven-minute suite that underscores the point of this record: prizing sonic cohesiveness over nostalgia.
Yeah, Hobgoblin is uncharted territory for a five-piece band, which has conquered a lot. And to conclude, in the song 'Fatamorgana', Marcel sings 'We can gather right around/It can be a victory ground'.
With a classic like Hobgoblin, who knew that the line would sound so true?
