Blueline Medic
42:19
12 Track, LP (2007, Casadeldico)
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Blueline Medic have always been stuck in a strange place. They’re noted as being “too clever for their own good”, a nod to their mathematically precise punk-sourced arrangements, a penchant for an unconventional hook, and Donnie Dureau’s thoughtful, at times obtuse lyricism. Their recordings require effort and more importantly patience, each layer revealing itself in no one’s time but its own. 42:19 is no different.
Lead track Soft Toy is a single sans chorus, its character and dynamic defined by the chaotic-yet-controlled guitar interplay of Dureau and Adrian Lombardi. The 2/4 call-and-response guitars of Between Toora and Hazelwood belies the unorthodox elegance which follows, squealing fits of guitar interspersed among a couple of unashamedly anthemic choruses. It’s an album highlight, though sadly seems lost in its awkward positioning between two similar tracks.
Rival Schools’ stellar United By Fate album is evoked through the jerky riffage of Her Reserve, whilst things take a plaintive piano-laced turn with Second Opinion, amid squalls of malfunctioning guitar, allowing the band to finally make good on the stalled ambition prevalent on previous effort Text Bomb. But “too clever for their own good” implicitly suggests a failed capacity for large-scale success. That capacity is there. And it’s entirely not the point.
by Daniel Zugna
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