Walk Through The Forest – Dr Buzzworm (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

If you didn’t know that Dr Buzzworm hailed from the West Coast of America, you could take an educated guess based on listening to this one song. I’m not saying that Californian’s have a monopoly on such a ragged and emotive sound but there is something about them which means that not only do they seem to frequent such musical climes more regularly than others they also seem to carry it off with more conviction.

Walk Through The Forest is everything the title suggests. A knowingly folk-pop groove with a slightly hippy vibe but also enough conviction and attention to detail to take it way beyond the gimmickry and tongue in cheek nature of many who meander along similar louche and loose sonic pathways, it seems to effortlessly rise above its rivals. And for all the simplicity of the beat and guitar progressions, it is the strange little musical motifs and wonderfully evocative sounds which seem to pass through the back of the song that make all the difference. Haunted strings, distant, disembodied non-human voices and the sounds of the natural world seem to fill the gaps between the main structures adding lush musical hues and brilliantly unsettling acoustic detail.

On the surface this might just be another odd little pop song but let your senses get in the right frame of mind and it is actually a key to a strange, delightful and delightfully strange arboreal parallel.

More info on Dr Buzzworm HERE