Last year, Steve Gunn produced us a standout raga-folk record in Boerum Palace. That album was primarily a showcase for Gunn’s unaccompanied guitar, with a few memorable contributions on steel guitar from Marc Orleans. Now Gunn is back, this time recording with drummer John Truscinski, a later contributor to GHQ with Gunn and a member of improv trio X.O.4. with Bill Nace.
“B38 Blues” is one of three long tracks on their new LP Sand City (along with the brief closer “Outro”), showcasing their music at its most downbeat and ruminative. Truscinski’s percussive contributions are barely audible at first, like high-pitched background drones behind Gunn’s unfurling guitar passages. Dissonance begins to creep in as the song enters its second half, with Truscinski’s idiosyncratic percussion growing in volume as Gunn’s playing threatens to lose the plot. Just as it seems the song might collapse in on itself, both players pull back and Gunn’s playing slides into sharp focus. “B38 Blues” captures the appeal of the album at large, which feels both casual and tightly plotted. The offhand way in which Gunn and Truscinski build songs from a few gestures — the defining characteristic of Sand City, and the reason for its success -– can be put down to that oldest of musical virtues: chemistry.
Gunn-Truscinski Duo: “B38 Blues”
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Words: Max Burke
Sand City LP (+ download) is out November 2 on Three-Lobed
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