Gunn-Truscinski Duo — Soundkeeper
The first Three Lobed release I received was in 2005 (a Wooden Wand release as I began to dig into the work of James Toth). We can’t all be at the crest of the wave, but at least I was lucky enough to be in its funnel; a vortex of rushing water, wind, and fury that is now 20 years strong.
The first brush with Steve Gunn came to me via Three Lobed a year later with the release of GHQ’s Heavy Elements, a trio also featuring Pete Nolan (Magik Markers, Spectre Folk) and Marcia Bassett (Zaimph, Double Leopards). Gunn’s virtuosity wasn’t on full display then, but the viscosity of his abilities were never in doubt. Further GHQ releases, Gunn’s Boerum Palace, and eventually the first duo album with John Truscinski followed by 2010.
So it’s been a decade of this fascinating pairing; Gunn’s frenetic and varied guitar strokes, Truscinski’s endearing mixture of jazz pacing and punk energy colliding across a rocky landscape as the so-dubbed Soundkeepers. And not to get all obvious on y’all, because a lot of albums from this year will wear this badge for decades to come: Soundkeeper is both an omen and a promise.
Where recent Gunn outings have been pastoral and reflective, Soundkeepers largely deviates from these idyllic outings for darker, more jagged terrain. “Into” is a light solo acoustic ballad, but the music grows electric and raging until the 10-minute live jam “Pyramid Merchandise.” When the steely sound returns in “Northwest”, it’s obfuscated with a slide and a menacing drone. A lot of Gunn’s guitar in this collection work spans his entire recorded career, providing a catalog of his many (ad)ventures. Yet it also fits so nicely into Three Lobed’s own storied history of taking chances from release to release.
The last half of the album largely visits Gunn’s more recent guitar sound (the title track is 16 minutes of a quasi-retrospective in and of itself), but Truscinski’s ability to both follow and take the lead as needed adds depth to Gunn’s work, bridging his more pop-oriented melodies with some of that ancient, combustible magick of old.
Three Lobed promises this is just the first alms in a 20-year celebration that will include future releases from the label’s mainstays (Sunburned Hand of the Man, 6OOA) and adjacencies (Sonic Youth). But Soundkeeper may be the best encapsulation of what it feels like to be towed by the radical current of Three Lobed as we pass into a new era. It’s been dark for so long in this tunnel, but Three Lobed is the trusty board we’ve ridden this far and the sun is bright outside. We’re just a few more rides away…
