It’s been four years since The Invisible Clock Factory released their
debut single, and it’s been time well spent. The Toronto-based duo of
Adam Bunch and Matthew Ivanowich has been hard at work, meticulously
piecing together their first full-length record, Somewhere Beyond the
Blue-Cheese Moon. Using nothing more than a ramshackle collection of
instruments and computer equipment, along with a talent for twisting
sounds into strange, new shapes and a penchant for fairy tale lyrics
and infectious pop hooks, the pair has crafted an ambitious debut: ten
sprawling songs, each built from hundreds of individual tracks.
Strongly
influenced by the concept-driven music of artists like The Flaming Lips
and the Elephant Six Collective, the album is vaguely centered around
the kind of elaborate premise you might expect from the pairing of a
rock critic with a philosopher. (Bunch has written for PopMatters and
Crawdaddy! and is the Editor-in-Chief of SoundProof Magazine, as well
as a former member of Toronto rock band The Coast; Ivanowich is
pursuing his PhD in philosophy at the University of Western Ontario.)
The record hints at the story of an orphaned girl who imagines her
parents have escaped to a wonderful, far-away world. It’s an album of
lush soundscapes and epic scope where references to quantum physics,
Jean-Paul Sartre and the Vietcong mix with those of a child’s mind:
sunflowers, lollipops and astronauts.
The world of the
Invisible …
It’s been four years since The Invisible Clock Factory released their
debut single, and it’s been time well spent. The Toronto-based duo of
Adam Bunch and Matthew Ivanowich has been hard at work, meticulously
piecing together their first full-length record, Somewhere Beyond the
Blue-Cheese Moon. Using nothing more than a ramshackle collection of
instruments and computer equipment, along with a talent for twisting
sounds into strange, new shapes and a penchant for fairy tale lyrics
and infectious pop hooks, the pair has crafted an ambitious debut: ten
sprawling songs, each built from hundreds of individual tracks.
Strongly
influenced by the concept-driven music of artists like The Flaming Lips
and the Elephant Six Collective, the album is vaguely centered around
the kind of elaborate premise you might expect from the pairing of a
rock critic with a philosopher. (Bunch has written for PopMatters and
Crawdaddy! and is the Editor-in-Chief of SoundProof Magazine, as well
as a former member of Toronto rock band The Coast; Ivanowich is
pursuing his PhD in philosophy at the University of Western Ontario.)
The record hints at the story of an orphaned girl who imagines her
parents have escaped to a wonderful, far-away world. It’s an album of
lush soundscapes and epic scope where references to quantum physics,
Jean-Paul Sartre and the Vietcong mix with those of a child’s mind:
sunflowers, lollipops and astronauts.
The world of the
Invisible Clock Factory is a world of irresistible melodies, screaming
feedback, hand-clapping choruses, obscure samples, toy xylophones,
field recordings, bright guitars and roaring tympani. It will have you
singing along even as you are surprised at every turn.
Architecture in Helsinki, Blur, Of Montreal, The Fiery Furnaces, The Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, MGMT, Boy Least Likely To
