Sunday morning chill. That’s what I think about whenever I
listen to the start of Bull’s new single, Perfect Teeth. With tranquil undertones that resemble The Velvet
Underground, York based band, Bull, artistically pull off an air of nonchalant mellowness – they don’t try to be complicated for the sake of being complicated
and the result is an unequivocally effortless masterpiece of musical ingenuity.
Starting out as a Ceilidh band, Bull, whilst developing
their sound into the indie-rock band as heard in ‘Perfect Teeth’, have not lost
their ceilidh background. Perhaps this is the clearest when frontman Tom Beer
sports vocals representative of the folk scene when he sings, “and it’s taking
me way too long.” It’s this very trait that sets Bull apart from other up and
coming bands on the scene: their ability to skilfully put a twist on their
ceilidh roots and blossom their sound into an indie-folk fusion is a move that
many would be both unqualified and unsuccessful in doing.
With their subtly use of the maracas to compliment drummer, Tom
Gabbatiss’, soft rhythmic beats, Bull evidently also have an eye for detail –
they know how to create layers and tones that create a sound so authentic to
themselves that engaging with the song is as easy as it comes. In fact,
‘Perfect Teeth’ is a song so well-crafted, in which every note, every dynamic
and every guitar line is in faultless position, that Bull are able to truly
invite their listeners to participate in the story of their song.
Yet Bull are playing a brilliantly deceptive card: ‘Perfect
Teeth is a single that initially whispers gentle acoustics, before suddenly
switching its serenity for a ramped-up electric guitar solo and drum beats that
will wake you up from that Sunday slumber. It’s fair to say that the band lull
us into a sense of false security and at its peak, drop us into a whirlwind of
unexpected X. However, I dare say that without this X interlude, ‘Perfect
Teeth’ may become a slightly repetitive song. Yet we needn’t worry about that
being an issue as it’s another example of where the band have stricken the
perfect balance between knowing where to be X and knowing exactly when to step
things up a notch.
Written by Kate Sinclair
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