Band: Lost Crowns
Website: https://lostcrowns.bandcamp.com/
Label: Bad Elephant Music (2019)
Rating:
Quite a Spectacular First Time Effort!
Let me preface my comments about the new Lost Crowns album by saying that Avant-Prog music,
while challenging to listen to, can bring to the listener a completely different level of musical satisfaction and appreciation. Lost
Crowns are a very new band having formed in 2018 made up of members from Stars In Battledress, Knifeworld, North Sea Radio Orchestra,
William D Drake band, Prescott and Scritti Politti. That’s quite a mix of styles and influences and as you might expect the music
created on Every Night Something Happens is nothing if not adventurous and challenging. Their music, made up of mostly mid-length
songs in the three to five minute range incorporates complex rhythm patterns and counterpoint to the max. Vocals are sung in surprising
and unexpected melodic patterns. They never seem to go where you expect them to. All of this is done with the emphasis on minor notes
and chords, interspersed with suspended and diminished chords making the music all sound hesitant and expectant. And trust me, there
are lots of notes here! (apologies to Emperor Joseph II.) During much of the listening there are on-going back-and-forths between
each of the instruments, sometimes in call-and-response fashion and sometimes just building into a cacophonous whirlwind of musical
notation. And yet, for all that busy-ness there are some exquisite moments of musical resolution and it’s these satisfying elements
that will keep you coming back. Fans of bands such as Caravan, Bent Knee and the Cardiacs will be thrilled with this music. It’s the
first release from Lost Crowns and wow it sure bodes well for a solid future in the world of Avant-Prog. Recommended to those of you
so inclined.