Shorthand Phonetics - Luck Is All

Hear The Track Here

Or Luck, Is All. (^.^;) to give it it's correct title. It doesn't seem like it's been almost three years since I reviewed Whistleblower AFAIK, this was the very first Shorthand Phonetics to appear on Soundclick. At the time, they were all fifteen years old (they were a six peice too), now a lot of time has passed and SP is now very much a one man show - that man being Ababil Ashari. Whistleblower had the 'recorded in ababils bedroom' tag attached to it and it is true that this guy has been the heart and sound of this Indonesian bands best tracks. Many of which have been lapped up by all and sundry despite the sound being rougher than a bears butt and played with more energy than skill.

T'is the songs, ya see. Can't keep a good song down, even if you try to bury it in the Mix from The Pit. Green Apple Garden, All Too Platonic and a great many others showed us that no matter what, they knew how to turn out a good song. Last month (bringing us bang up to date) I reviewed Chivalry Is Lost On Some People from the new SP album 'Apparently I'm In Medicine' which is also at the download link above which had the same hallmark dreadful sound but once again a terrific little song. The same, I am glad to say, can be said for Luck Is All which is a good job because the sloppiness and performance leave lots to be desired. Again though, if you give it time, you will hear the barest bones of what I think may well be one of their best songs ever.

That's the really surprising thing about SP, time and again they deliver these flawed oddities, which we puzzle over, dissect, pore through and ultimately grow to like enormously. For my money, though Luck Is All could have easily lost three of its seven minutes, and been sharper and punchier into the bargain. If that had happened, and Ababil cleared up the vocal somewhat, I think this would kill from a thousand paces. So there you go, you will go and listen to the track and you will immediately say 'what the feck is that guy raving about'. Well, just to give you a heads up, the first section is the best section of the peice and that only lasts three minutes. Give it a bit of time and the power of the song will show itself. IMHO though, this does need a serious looking at in terms of deadweight; the first bit yeah, the second could maybe another song.

For fans only, probably. Recommended nonetheless for the first part, which is excellent, if sloppy.