Bourbonese Qualk — The Spike
The Spike is the next in Klanggalerie’s CD reissue series of albums by Bourbonese Qualk- a UK based anarchistic and experimental music collective who existed (on and off) between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. The Spike was the collectives sixth full-length release- originally appearing in 1985- it saw an album that blended electro beat bound fare with rumbling bass, brood industrial elements- with touches of world music elements, atmospheric guitar scaping/ ambience, and sidesteps into more wonky and ritually anarchic shout 'n' operatic warble.
The CD comes presented in a gloss monochrome digipak- this features a very Crass like cover, with blunt white text set in a black frame around a picture of the two picec on a black and white TV. The remaining disc artwork features a picture of the pair overlaid on a tower block heavy cityscape, and inverted tower block pictures. The original album featured eleven tracks, and this reissue adds in two worthy bonus tracks from the same period.
The album kicks off with the brooding slap bass-meets-ranted shouts and smarting-to-hissing beat work of “Shutdown”. We have the proto ethnic techno meets warbling and wondering blues-rock guitar soloing of “About This”. The spaced-yet-building ramshackle punk chant sampling meets rough throbbing bass toll and messy sonic rebel-rousing of “Call To Arms”. And the strip light totalitarian stomp of “In-Flux” which brings together snapping low-fi industrial textures, throbbing bass and building-up junk metal percussion hits.
It's so great to see Klanggalerie carrying on with this series of reissues- and I’d say if you enjoy where 80’s experimental electronica-meets-bass throbbing anarchisms and creative genre-blending you’ll be wanting to get your hands on your own copy of The Spike- so head here to do just that.