It’s probably wrong to limit albums to days of the week but Stash is very much a Sunday kind of record. For many of us, it’s the day we feel slightly more relaxed than usual, the pace of life just that bit slower, with less urgency to do, well… anything. Of course, there’s always the trip to Ikea with the rest of humanity but just imagine that this particular day is going to spent strolling aimlessly, maybe in the woods, the sunlight streaming through the trees. And on the iPod, soundtracking the day, the fourth album by Cock And Swan.
It’s not a name that I was familiar with before – and to be honest, I’d have probably given them a wide berth with that off-putting identity (seriously, do these people never use Google image search?) – but Stash is very lovely indeed and a shift down from their earlier more electronic excursions to a folkier, more acoustic sound. The tone of the album is reminiscent of early Hood, perhaps in part due to the woodwind and voice-as-instrument approach employed by Ola Hungerford; she sings identifiable lyrics but they are embedded in the mix rather than placed in the foreground. The star of the show, however, is guest drummer Adam Kozie whose busy, jazz-influenced percussion gives the songs a necessary propulsion. He never over-plays his role but it’s what lifts this record above the ordinary – check out his playing on the title track if you want confirmation.
Aside from a forgivable tendency to drift into doodles that lack the character found elsewhere (the mood of the music remains but the songwriting is not as strong), Stash is a thoroughly enjoyable 45 minutes. Cock And Swan have made a sure-footed transition from electronic to acoustic, although if they want to continue along this trajectory, a bit more song-craft might be required; the best songs here act as tent-poles holding the rest of the album up, and more of this quality will be needed in the future. Aside from a handful of other records in my collection – Juana Molina springs to mind – this album has annexed a day of the week for itself and looks like it will be a fixture for a while yet. (Jeremy Bye)
a closer listen 