Bark Psychosis – ///Codename:Dustsucker Review

Released in 1994 Bark Psychosis’ debut Hex was such a cathartic work that erstwhile critic Simon Reynolds coined the phrase post-rock to describe it; recorded over a tumultuous year for the-then quartet in an East London church, it was an unconscious rebellion against the decade’s increasingly limp musical script and a work of unique textures and cadences.

By the time it’s follow-up was released twenty years later only founding member Graham Sutton remained however. Two decades on it was always going to be a thankless task for ///Codename:Dustsucker to try to confound an audience now long-educated by the likes of Mogwai and which had turned Slint’s Spiderland into one of the most posthumously successful underground records of all time. Wisely, Sutton chose not to do so and with Talk Talk drummer Lee Harris’ percussion to the fore the general mood was defined by the lack, rather than the limits, of boundary pushing.

It’s a rarity that a work is cross-formatted without new material to justify the excercise, but ///Codename:Dustsucker is more than interesting enough to merit such a thing and marks a further high tide in Bark Psychosis’ unconventional history.

You can read a full review here (a new window will open)