h o m e
Rockerilla (Magazine, Italy)
October 2004
JOE TURNER: Between Two Seconds
Camera Obscura Records (CAM067CD)
When a cult group such as Abunai! dissolves, and immediately after
that the drummer releases his record, some doubts may arise about the
operational result. Many perplexities had already been dispelled by
the "Dollar Star" EP, however, and the first notes of Between
Two Seconds pulverizes any possible remaining scepticism as they
immediately reveal that Joe Turner's ability is something more than
hitting skins and cymbals with competence. Joe is, first of all, a
keen composer of psychedelic songs, widely owing to the Californian
"Paisley Underground" of the '80s as well as English psych-pop dating
back 15 years before. He is also a good multi-instrumentalist, able
to draw upon a wide palette of timbres, along with the contribution of
some illustrious friends (among others, members of Bright and the
Elephant Six circle of bands like Olivia Tremor Control to offer
strings, accordions, trumpets and so on). So it is not a "drummer
album" that has been born, but the album of a clever home recorder who
also does what those kind of musicians are not usually able to do: to
play percussion with competence. It is a true arsenal of melodic
talent, inducing comparisons with Rain Parade and Byrds, as well as
the Beatles and Fairfield Parlour, playing sometimes with crackling
kaleidoscopic slides ('Turn Me Upside Down' seems to quote the Dukes
of Stratosphear), but most often serving a nostalgic and crepuscular
poetic: 'Between Two Seconds' is the time of loss and absence, as the
beautiful title-track suggests. The 11 songs are, conversely, all
unforgettable, and if all the records of drummers were like this, then
we should correct many prejudices.
www.cameraobscura.com.au
ENRICO RAMUNNI