Photo © Sebastien Dehesdin
You may well have heard of Nedry before, since their debut EP, “Condors”, kicked up a veritable cack-cyclone of press interest. That said, my sources (that would be their website) inform me that an LP is on the way, so there’s no time like the present for making sure you’re all keeping your eyes and ears out for this London threesome.
It only takes a brief listen to “Condors” to hear what all the fuss was about. Literally, the first track, “A42″ ought to be enough. Bear in mind that it dropped back in 2010, when dubstep was still sounding reasonably fresh for most people. My, how the wobble-bass has dated. Regardless, though, what sold it wasn’t that it managed to surf the wave of a particular genre, but that it seemed to move almost effortlessly between so many disparate influences.
Let’s stick with “A42″ for the moment. Those drums that open it. It’s … It’s “Machine Gun”, by Portishead! Ayu Okakita’s voice also has a definite touch of Beth Gibbons about it. But those melodies and swoops? They’re pure Björk. As for the guitar touches: “Firesuite” by Doves. Add to that the electronic drones of “Amnesiac”-era Radiohead, and you had yourself one potent musical brew.
To a point, at least – because although you could perform a similar breakdown over most of the EP, it generally doesn’t quite add up to the sum of its parts. I’ll give them their due: that’s a pretty hefty sum, particularly when you factor in the touches of Curve, The Knife and Squarepusher that crop up on later tracks. When it works, as on “A42″ and title-track “Condors”, it really works. Elsewhere, such as on “Squid Cat Battle” – a track whose name alone suggests true greatness – you feel let-down. It so nearly gels, and if it did then by God the result would be a blinder, but it falls short of the mark.
It’s telling that the least musically adventurous track by far, “Scattered” – a straightforward romp of distorted guitars and breakbeats – is actually one of the most enjoyable. It doesn’t push any comfort zones, and feels confident and relaxed as a result. The closing 30 seconds, where it descends into wobbly dubstep, has admittedly not aged as well as the main bulk.
However, if that all sounds like me being very critical of Nedry, it’s not intended to be. “Condors” wasn’t perfect, but it was damn good. Given the sources it drew on, it fell short of its promise – but not always, and never by much. Either way, that was a high bar to aim for for such a young band. They’ve now had over a year to hone their sound and settle into their skins. Nothing improves a band musically like a healthy chunk of live playing. My expectation, if they’ve kept up the ambition and trusted their genre-hopping instincts, is that their debut full-length could be a very special record. Let’s just hope they’ve ditched the wobble.
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