Gary War - New Raytheonport
- Written by Kenneth McMurtrie
Having not noticed anything obviously wrong with the sound of this upon its first release 3 years ago, my initial thought was that Gary War had done nothing in the intervening time other than sit in a dark room fulminating against whomever screwed up whatever he felt was wrong and taking the time to fix it himself; but no – he’s had another album out, at least one EP, and a third album arrives this year. So what’s he tinkered with on the oldie then?
The short answer to that is, er, not very much. Or at least nothing that's particularly obvious to my ear. Is 'Obscure Preferences' clearer in some places and murkier in the bits that were previously clear? Is 'Bounce Four' possibly a little bit less muddy now? Frankly I can't really tell so someone with better ears than me needs to get on the case. What is evident though is that this is War's most accessible release to date, being essentially psychedelic rock for the most part. More recent releases Horribles Parade and this year’s Jared's Lot veer from this style to more electronic (and less listenable at times) forms.
A decent oeuvre overall that deserves some of your time, but by now I’m fed up listening to supposedly slightly altered versions of the same songs so it’s time to move on to something brand new.