Gus Englehorn, The Hornbook: REVIEW

Gus Englehorn, The Hornbook (Secret City)

The myth and legend of Gus Englehorn lives on, further etched in time with this new batch of songs. Each of these songs feels like it’s been plucked out of a whimsical grimoire buried in the hard, dusty ground until it was unearthed by a weary traveller — the surrealist garage rock equivalent of Pandora’s Box. Under a bed of warm acoustic guitar, bubbling synths, a few grungy axe fuzz lines and Estée Preda’s hypnotic drumming/backing vocals, characters like “Roderick of the Vale,” “One Eyed Jack” and a “wicked stew of spiny fish” take root. “A Song With Arms and Legs” sounds and feels like an acid trip with no escape, as the piano, played by Montreal’s Frisco Lee, has been drinking whisky in the background. No one does it quite like Gus — one of the most ingenious songwriters around today. 9/10 Trial Track “Roderick of the Vale”

For more on Gus Englehorn, please visit his website. This review was originally published in the March issue of Cult MTL.

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