REVIEWS | The Routes - The Twang Machine

Photo Credit: Bertrand Crush

Written by Nathan Whittle for Louder Than War

We’ve followed The Routes for some time now here at Louder Than War. They hit my radar back in 2011 with their Alligator album and, in these pages, we’ve seen them shift from crunching psych fuzz of In This Perfect Hell through to main man Chris Jack’s beautiful acoustic solo album Miles To Go and on to last year’s Nuggets-esque Mesmerised. The band fall just on the right side of prolific, always with something new on the horizon, including their recent forays into instrumental albums, a couple of which they put out on Groovie Records. Now they’re back with another great album of instrumentals, but this time they’ve turned their keen ear to the wonderful world of Kraftwerk, a million miles of bits and bytes from their natural territory, but, in true Routes style, they give the songs their own spin and here we end up with ten Kraftwerk classics remained as reverb-drenched surf-psych.

It’s a bold move from the band and they pull it off fantastically right from the off as their version of Computer Love tumbles in its full Dick Dale glory from the speakers. Naturally, the songs in general shift gears up from the originals, the pace needed to keep the flow of the reworkings, although on songs like The Model it’s not necessary. Sitting back on the beat, Jack’s gliding surf guitar replaces the vocals as it shimmies along, great galloping drum breaks marking the changes. Where they really make a stand-out mark is on their reworking of Trans Europe Express (below), the detached and icy electronics making way for pounding and crashing runaway train surf licks and rhythms that build higher and higher, threatening to topple at any given moment.

Elsewhere, they turn Showroom Dummies into a cantering Spaghetti Western theme tune, similarly on the reverberating Radioactivity. They also know that there are moments of calm in the Pacific when the waves turn into gentle swells as the sun sets. The band soundtrack that shift to perfection with their reinterpretations of Tour De France and Neon Lights to close out side A and B respectively. What comes through clearly is the band’s respect for Kraftwerk, choosing the parts of their songs that fit more naturally in the reinterpretations. A vocal line becomes the lead guitar, an unmistakable bridge becomes the primary motif, but not all the tracks draw your mind straight to the original, far from it. The Robots and Autobahn are perfect examples as they a back once again to that rolling and driving garage surf, the Kraftwerk crumbs laid more beneath to guide the song.

All through the album, Chris Jack and his band are paying a great homage to a clash between 70’s Düsseldorf and 50’s California, a mash-up that surprisingly works so well. Blasphemy and bastardisation or the perfect alchemy? Kraftwerk purists might fall on the former, but that’s sure going to be their loss. Surf music fans are sure to totally fall for this album, yet another feather in Chris Jack’s ever-growing cap.

THE ROUTES - THE TWANG MACHINE

A:
1. Computer Love
2. The Model
3. Pocket Calculator
4. Showroom Dummies
5. Tour de France

B:
1. The Robots
2. Autobahn
3. Radioactivity
4. Transe Europe Express
5. Neon Lights

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