Scout Niblett – The Calcination Of Scout Niblett

by Vinh on February 7th, 2010

Scout Niblett – The Calcination Of Scout Niblett
January 26th, 2009
Drag City
Score: 8.1

Eschewing full-bodied structure in favor of the austere is nothing new where Scout Niblett’s material is concerned. The Nottingham native has made a career out of brooding rock minimalism and her latest does not diverge from this template, placing the onus on vocals as plaintive as they are powerful in addition to hauntingly spare arrangements. On ‘Cherry Cheek Bomb’, the drums pound the floor with deliberate ardor amidst an electric guitar’s strident flares while Niblett, slouched in a dimly lit corner, propels her doleful timbre out of the shadows for all to hear. It’s arguably the album’s most intense number, both faint and vociferous, as though the proverbial elephant in the room thunders in and out of focus with every emphatic step, every instrumental iteration. Aside from the regrettably jaunty junctures in ‘Kings’, this is the least compromising Niblett full-length to date and consequently the finest. The skeletal nature of her craft has always been appreciable, it’s just never been purveyed with such fire as any semblance of Americana has given way to beguiling slow-burning bombast. The lugubrious closer ‘Meet And Greet’ displays this dynamic, dabbling in boisterous buzzsaw guitars and eerie silence over the course of 9 stupefying, grimy minutes. This is wonderfully naked, viscous and visceral, rendering the guitar strums and crashing cymbals all the more resonant due to how bare the scenery is. There’s a satisfying threat of imminence to The Calcination Of Scout Niblett, as listeners rest on the edges of their seats patiently waiting for the spotlight to direct their gaze, for the disposition to shift gears from vulnerable to virulent. On her first Drag City LP, Scout Niblett is still fighting off her demons. The difference this time around is that she’s through walking on eggshells, dousing the whole affair in fuel and lighting it ablaze with reckless, unapologetic abandon.

Vinh Cao

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