Long Fin Killie

Houdini (Too Pure/American)
by Lex Marburger

I just found my new favorite CD. Long Fin Killie smothers me in liquid bass and honey guitar before ripping with a sonic attack. Houdini has a hypnotic power that drags you down and pulls you up to the next level. The first thing that caught me was the simple bass line and intriguing vocals (“He said – I’m just a little fascinated by the female form, but sadly you’re as near as I’ll ever get. But if I fail to catch that wounded goddess in you, well, I’ve a flair for porno”). Forget the London Suede, this is the kind of bisexual music I can enjoy.

“At that point I realized I was allergic to his lipstick, but by then he had said I was too much for him.” The vocals are in a soft-spoken falsetto, breathy and elegant, well-spoken, and dare I say, sexy? The guitars slam in, after looping and swirling melodies and harmonies, throwing volume and distortion in your face, forcing your mind to pay attention to lines like, “I seem to have a lot more time for guys. Don’t get me wrong now, it’s just their wit and charm and conversation captures youth, and that’s the truth, and youth’s a time when cares trip free.” But don’t think the gentle parts are all gentle, and the heavy parts are nothing but guitar crunch. Long Fin Killie is much too clever for that. Interspersed between the lilting guitars and violins are swelling gurgles of looped burbling saxophone, other figures rising from the background to throw Dada at the audience, or to savagely kiss the magnetic tape with pure sound creation. The music expands with every disconcerting element, like mandolins and dulcimers buried in the midst of howling guitar feedback, shaping emotion like a tool, a tool to dig at the fetid pieces from you, to overwhelm your sensibilities and stun you into a new point of view. What that point is, is up to you. Keep your eye on the gorgeous, and try to find the answer to the question, “Do bisexuals really have the best of both worlds?”