Until He Finds Us by Timonium (Review)
On Until He Finds Us, Timonium don’t re-write the Book of Slowcore so much as edit it subtly. Adam Hervey’s vocals may be entirely in that baritone favoured by the likes of Codeine’s Stephen Immerwahr, but they play off against the altogether more twee tones of bassist/vocalist Tracy Uba.
The band don’t continually fall into the trap of quiet and loud variations on themes. Instead, they almost gracefully flit from one idea to another. Dare it be said, there’s even something faintly proggy about their song structures, but the P-word needn’t scare anyone with a fondness for Slint, and Timonium do recall Slint in their quieter moments (think “For Dinner…” as opposed to “Good Morning Captain”). Listening to this album is more like listening to one long medley than a collection of songs, and no, it’s not because they all sound the same — it’s just so carefully sequenced, as can be heard when the quiet rhythmic pulse of the instrumental “Rememory Screen” turns into “Filamented.”
While not overly likely to seep into the subconscious of the less patient listener, on this evidence, Timonium sound like just the kind of band to appeal to people who’ve bought all the Bedhead albums there are to buy, but they spring a few quiet surprises of their own. And that’s some kind of achievement in itself, because there’s only so much that can be added to the slowcore blueprint without ending up in another style of music — it’s a bit like the difference between John Lee Hooker and Blues Hammer.
Written by Damian McVeigh.