Sapat - Krackhausblooze / Halycon Daze / Mystical Stupors 7”

Blackvelvetfuckrecordings
Released: 09.18.06

Sapat once seemed to exist more as a concept than a band. The idea was to gather several musicians together and hack out their brand of percussive improvisational free rock and see how it felt. As a fan it seemed like the most lackadaisical, utterly unpredictable structure, closely relating itself to underground jazz culture. Sometimes incredible and sometimes “eehh,” you wondered what would happen if they started orchestrating actual songs. Well, as recent performances have indicated, they have begun toying with some basic structures that they build and transmute as they please. With members frequently falling in and out of the collective, everything is worked, then destroyed or forgotten and maybe rejoined later. Because of all this, they have become one of the most exciting and laudable bands in Kentucky.

With their recently released 7”, Sapat focuses on presenting their drunken ghoul persona. “Krackhausblooze” begins as a massive psychedelic guitar free-for-all before it settles for a rhythmic funk identity. Here saxophones begin to speak in tongues as a psychotic Tom Waits-like character jars away his diluted one-sided dialogue. The rock guitars then return before the track pulsates itself into abrupt closure.

“Halycon Daze / Mystical Stupors” is similar to “Krackhausblooze,” displaying a fondness of Captain Beefheart and the previously mentioned Waits within the dense guitar and saxophone layers. As the jam slowly concludes in a noisy rolling thunder, it feels as though this is the fun side of schizophrenia.

Still, though pleasing and undeniably cool, this is not Sapat at their finest. For anyone who saw their recent set opening for Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, it’s obvious that given the right place on the right night, Sapat are capable of not just being one of the best groups in Kentucky, but one of the best groups period. They can melt walls. They can blast out streetlights. They can upstage Will Oldham. However, this recording, despite being a good reference point to the basic Sapat aesthetic, doesn’t quite reach that hyperbolic stratum. Yes, I admit it’s unfair to hold this little record to such a high standard, but as far as I’m concerned, they set that benchmark for themselves.

P.S. - Look for and buy their upcoming full length Mortise & Tenon due out on Siltbreeze early 2007.

-Kent Thompson