Pottery – ‘The Craft’
Montreal’s Pottery craft garage perfection in ‘The Craft’.
Released ahead of their forthcoming EP No. 1, ‘The Craft’ is a primitive rock n’ roll song. Imagine 60s garage bands such as The Sonics, The Seeds, or any band for that matter included in the hugely influential Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era compilation album. ‘The Craft’ is by no means a regurgitation of this sound – Pottery have taken influence from it and made it modern. This is most obvious in the keys. Although not at the forefront of the song, it’s got that classic 60s rock n’ roll/psychedelia vibe that adds a layer of texture to ‘The Craft’, making Pottery something a little different to a lot of contemporary garage bands (note the held synth keys towards the end of the song).
Austin’s voice is staccato, edgy with a hint of frustration and paranoia. The guitars are clean and quirky with intricate use of slapback delay. In the verse there’s an almost dissonant jangly and arpeggic lick, but in the chorus the guitars go into full powerchord attack mode. Midway, there’s a guitar battle that is almost Television ‘Marque Moon’-esque. It’s great! The rhythm section of the bass and drums pull all of this together for it all to makes sense, only throwing in licks and fills in sparingly.
If you want something primal in the approach to modern rock n’ roll yet intricate in the detail, look no further than ‘The Craft’.
Words by Matthew Brocklehurst