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At its essence the debut self-titled release by The Nichols Family Gospel Hour is a very well played collection of instrumental rock. But getting to this album's collection may be missing the point.
The band's short hand summation of this beautifully packaged collection is "The soundtrack to a movie never made." That has a great ring to it but how can we honestly judge a soundtrack that we haven't seen, that can not be seen?* All we can do is judge the songs as they stand, and the songs are fearless. The Nichols brothers (David and Darren) stated intent is to throw genre out the window.
The basis here is rock (not quite psychedelic but frequently THC fueled), but it's what these two Texas boys add to that foundation that makes this a damned good listen: blues, country, classical and even brutal guitar with blast-beats (only on "Miasma") are coupled with samples, soundbites and spoken (not sung) words. These songs are generally quiet but never ambient (they're too sinister, they evoke to much epic/biblical imagery), and they never stick to a set formula.
Taken all together if these songs were loud they'd be daunting. But with the mellow approach they're more intriguing. What we have here is less a collection of songs and more an experience, with it's closest cousin possibly being Earth's "Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method". You can feel the ghost of Pink Floyd haunting the edges of the these songs. But the end result isn't traditional rock. In fact it may be *post* rock.
What if you took a great post-rock album like, say, God Speed You! Black Emperor's "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven" gave it to a rural rock band and said: "Here, play this."?
How would you react if that band SUCCEEDED?
The Nichols Family Gospel Hour may be trying to be a "band of no genre" but they may have quietly, discreetly invented one, or at least re-invented one.
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The Nichols Family Gospel Hour
http://www.myspace.com/thenicholsfamilygospelhour
Nothingness Entertainment
http://www.nothingnesspictures.com/
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*The Sepiachord Engineer is convinced that what we're hearing is a soundtrack to an exorcism. If true it makes the song arrangement (the first six songs are grouped as "The End", the last half as "The Beginning") that much more sinister.
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