Post-Punk Monk

[…continued from last post]

Bob Gaulke: (S)words – US – CD-R [2025]

1. Our Tiny Struggle 2:32
2. Yoga 2:25
3. Tight 3:38
4. The Plastic Saint At Home Doesn’t Do Miracles 2:33
5. Midnight Anthropology 4:00
6. Sensation To Sensation 2:40
7. Spinning Beast 3:09
8. Please Rise 2:48

“Our Tiny Struggle” began with the emphatic piano rhythm courtesy of Mr. Barry Andrews boring a hole in our brain that wouldn’t let go as Gil Olivera on the drums danced around the piano with Jazzy aplomb. The rhythm guitar filled out the melodic rondo as we were caught up in Bob’s vocal performance as his laidback vocal style was delivered, as ever, with Beatnik reserve. The fulsome guitar solo that Hans Croon contributed to the middle eight helped to make this musical blossom open even fuller. When it all began to fade only 2:15 into it I have to say that I was feeling cheated! I would have loved to have had this song last twice as long as its 2:30 length; easily.

The shuffling drums of “Yoga” found Bob emoting in his lower register once more. I loved how Paulo LePetit’s bass sounded as if it had been played through a Mu-Tron pedal, one of my favorite effects – until the envelope sounded like ducks quacking and bubbles popping! Adding the funky low end we love. I never hear enough of that sort of thing! Meanwhile, the string patches with glockenspeil added the high end here as Bob reviewed a relationship through the lens of the titular practice.

“reaching for the sky
one hand on your thigh

want to get inside
that look in your eyes

one-legged tree
all I need

is carved initials
in your life”

Yoga

The finely etched synths, used almost percussively in “Tight” played into the song like raindrops. The drums danced persuasively in the verses and on the chorus the big guitars and Rock drums came into the spotlight only to retreat and leave room for the piano on the next verse. With an aggressive wrap up here complete with clavinet climax leading up to the final guitar chords that eventually ground to a complete halt.

The barroom Jazz of “The Plastic Saint At Home Doesn’t Do Miracles” was another compelling pas de deux between the drums and peripatetic piano. Bob channeled Beat poetry on the lyric as the backing vocalists, Peri Mason and Vivian Benford, added their refrains here to gently tug at the heart. Then when the heavy tremolo guitar of Hans Croon [credited here, again, with “better guitars”] began to careen through the song as it lost its reserve entirely to revel in the fire that he brought to the enterprise.

I absolutely loved the playfully frisky “Midnight Anthropology!” As much as the opening “Our Tiny Struggle” was near and dear to my heart, this one was the big hit single that Bob had held back for the right moment to deliver. The chorus here had full earworm status as his engagingly loose delivery was perfectly abetted by the rhythms and rolling piano that the players brought to the equation. And at a Prog-like [for him] 4:00 in length, it was given plenty of room to take flight.

“Sensation To Sensation” was another big winner with languid, long sustain guitar by Hans Croon cutting through the alleyways of the heart. Coupled with Bob’s dry, disaffected delivery the net result touched down not a million miles away from a Leonard Cohen vibe.

“From sensation to sensation
Monkey bars to robot cars
No signs of hesitation
Feeling good no matter the cost”

Sensation To Sensation

The kinetically charged “Spinning Beast” was all about the nearly African rhythm guitar and adroit drumming of Gil Olivera. By the time that this dervish of a song wrapped up one can almost imagine the smoking guitar strings. The concluding “Please Rise” was ultimately down to the sustained guitar and string patch synths that allowed this zesty album to end on a suitably benedictive note.

Bob says that he begins each of his songs as poems and it shows in the sturdiness of his verse bereft of music to support it. It’s entirely successful as poetry alone, but the kicker is that he then composes music that delights the ear as well as the words delight the mind. That he enlists such a talented group to flesh these songs out is a small justice in this fallen world.

We must think of “(S)words” as the bolder half of this duo of albums formed with the more reflective “(detail)” as discussed yesterday. The joy is that at eight songs each and between 24-28 minutes in length, each album rewards immediate replay as these songs get programmed into the Mental Walkman® with ease. As with “(detail),” the DL for “(S)words” is $7.00 in Bandcamp with a full CD-R at $10. DJ hit that button!

But we’re not done yet. Join us for act III of this play next time.

Next: …Difficult Times Indeed

Bob Gaulke is an interesting guy! He’s a very busy musician with 34 releases in the last decade. Nine of those were released in 2022 alone! I happened to really get to know Bob on the occasion of his tribute album to mutual friend Ron Kane on his death. I flew to Los Angeles in 2018 with friends chasinvictoria and Mr. Ware to participate in and attend the two concerts that Bob and Cary Berger had set up in Los Angeles to perform the music from that album with many of Ron’s friends both onstage and off.

At that time I learned that this gentleman swore that he had hard drives with enough songs for 50 albums and that the only mitigating factor in meting out their release was the amount of debt he was willing to run up on his credit cards. Bob writes the songs and records with a guitar and drum machine. He hands off the recordings to his favorite musicians, pays them for their participation, and they work their magic on his songs. It was over five years ago when he mentioned to me that he’d engaged Barry Andrews and Martyn Barker of Shriekback to play on a series of songs which have recently been released last summer on a trio of projects. two albums, and an EP.

Bob Gaulke: (detail) – US – CD-R [2025]

1. Dreams Keep Me Up All Night 3:29
2. The Women Of Earth 2:37
3. Moving Center 2:56
4. Human Television 2:37
5. “You” Meaning You 2:44
6. Thousand Decisions 2:49
7. When Do You Think You Are? 2:49
8. The Listener 2:23

While I’ve been listening to Bob’s music for some years now I had to wonder upon hearing that this had happened; would Andrews and Barker bring any Shriekback DNA into the songs? In a word, No. Instead they brought their lifetime of musical experience and sensitivity, but they are not the only extra players here. Hans Croon of The Dutch played guitar and backing vocals in addition to performing the editing. Paolo LePetit played “Impossible Bass” on three cuts. Gil Olivera played drums on two cuts. And Peri Mason and Vivian Benford contributed backing vocals.

Martyn Barker’s gently brushed drums and the jovial organ stylings of Barry Andrews formed a sunny groove as far a possible from anything in the Shriekzone. The nearly bucolic melody and vibe of “Dreams Keep Me Up All Night” almost called out for cows to be providing “mooooooos” in the background as Mr. Gaulke lazily drifted down the river of the song. In fact, Mr. Andrews interjected what I can only assume were synthetic sheep bleats into the mix in an entirely correct manner! The first time I listened to this I was struck by the beauty of the lyrical Jazz guitar solo in the middle eight. Was that Bob dazzling my ears? No! The credits revealed that Hans Croon played all of the “better guitars” in a truth-in-labeling gambit from Bob! I’ll assume that’s also Croon on the languid slide that completes the pastoral vibe that made this song instantly appealing.

The synthetic backbeat in “Women Of Earth” was unexpected following the first cut, but rulebooks were made to be discarded. The jaunty, quirky number featured the “la-la” backing vocals from the Peri and Vivian as the bouncy vibe contrasted mightily with Gaulke’s relaxed delivery. I loved the chorused eBow guitar [surely Mr. Croon once more?] that drifted through this one. Shakers from Mr. Barker were joined with the slide and rhythm guitar and perky bass from, Gaulke himself as the euphoric vibe inveigled its way into our heart. The interplay between the free-flowing synth solo from Andrews and the effulgent guitar in the climax surprisingly ceded the ground to Barker for a tight drum solo to end it on.

The languid and funky “Human Television” married Gaulke’s hushed delivery of the lyric with gently chugging vibe shot through with bluesy guitar solos. The heavy syncopation that Andrews put on his organ playing at song’s midpoint upped the ante of disquiet for this unsettling number that featured the Brazilian rhythm section of LaPetit and Olivera that figured on this track.

Today’s earworm has been “You Meaning You” and the juxtaposition of power chords [a rarity for this album!] and glockenspiel gave a great foundation for the extremely catchy chorus to worm its way into my brain in the last week. The sustained guitar from Mr. Croon almost attained a slide fluidity here that made the nearly Acid Rock guitar solo in the middle eight all the more shocking.

The pensive, nocturnal sound of “Thousand Decisions” wad the one track here with call backs to the Shriekback Noir of “Big Night Music.” The beautiful piano dovetailed elegantly with the Samba rhythms of Mr. Olivera here while eerie synth lines reverberated into the dark spaces surrounding us. While Gaulke’s delivery was unusually low with split octave backing vocals on the high end [from Mr. Croon?] doubling with his leads for an unsettling feel on the dreamlike song.

The album concluded with the crisp attack of “The Listener” which married an almost motorik beat from Mr. Barker with lyrical piano from Mr. Andrews. The middle eight took an unexpected journey to a spacey, portamento synth solo vying with Barker’s Jazzy breakbeats and frisky bass on the part of Mr. LePetit. Meanwhile, Bob’s lyrics became meta-metaphor territory as music became a proxy for a relationship.

“singer swoons as we do
guitars groove chorus moves
play it again we need to
get into what feels good
she calls the tune
she knows the truth
nothing she can see
makes a pause worthy”

The Listener

Since Bob believes that “less is more,” his albums tend to be concise, eight-song affairs. This one certainly was a well curated blend of material that sustained a good-natured vibe that often belied the attack of his ambiguous lyrical approach. The contributions of the players were well mixed and mastered here by Martin Scian. The resulting songs cajoled the ears and the quality of the songwriting and playing beckoned us back for swift seconds. There is little better than an album that strongly suggests that you play it on repeat since once is not enough. I’ve enjoyed all of Bob’s music that I’ve heard. At least a third by my reckoning, but this latest effort crossed a line into a more compulsive listen than I normally have time and space for. I got my copy of this in October, that I’ve not had the time to devote my listening to this until recently is my loss. Bandcamp have the DL for $7 and the CD-R for $10, so DJ hit that button!

Next: …(S)words Of A Thousand Men?