pôt-pot - Warsaw 480km
felte
Irish/Portuguese quintet pôt-pot have released their debut album Warsaw 480km. It's 10 tracks and 40-minutes of Krautrockian grooves and psychedelically flecked kinetics. The effortlessly cool energy that pôt-pot imbue finds its full form in Warsaw 480km. On the album's title, frontman Mark Waldron-Hyden recalls a journey to collect and deliver his father's ashes: "at one point the driver told me about a journey he’d taken from Ireland to Poland, where after days of driving, in the dead of night, a single road sign appeared, reading ‘WARSAW 480 KM’. I identified with that image of blackness punctuated suddenly by some faraway but tangible relief.”
It's a quick intro in "132 Spring St." - something of a street recording soaked up in NYC - and we're off to the races with opening track "22º Halo".
"A 22-degree halo is an atmospheric optical phenomenon appearing as a large ring of light, roughly 22 degrees in radius, surrounding the Sun or Moon. This ring is created when sunlight or moonlight is refracted by hexagonal ice crystals present in high-altitude cirrus clouds. It's also commonly known as a sun halo (around the Sun) or moon ring (around the Moon)" cheers to Overview AI(do I reference it considering it's just stealing the "understanding" from all other sources of info? I'm caught in a self-inflicted stealing trap myself. Fookin' 'ell.)
The chiming essence of "22º Halo" bounces back-and-forth like a laidback game of ping-pong. Nonchalant sophistication.
"Delirium. Stuck in my head."
The laidback lounge of light-rings leads into the more intentionally-driven-gusto-phonics with "Sextape", a single released in the run-up to the album.
Shimmering synths back the groove. An air of Eastern contemplation comes through in the opening riff which pops up as a catchy chorus of sorts later in the track.
"You don't have to say what you are."
The truth will unveil your being in due course; the truth will first apply the suffering, then it will supply the salve. The ball is forever in your court. Play ball.
"'WRSW’ is a chronicle of being driven in a very nice car to collect and deliver my father’s ashes, and how that odd comfort in such an awful situation jarred me." says frontman Mark Waldron-Hyden. The silver lining is rarely the thing that you thought it would be; life comforts in the strangest of ways. A string of events which fall out of whack tend to feel like the end, but chaos leads to order, in that order. Without one, there is no other. May the flux be forever in your favour.
"HOW can we get there, can we get there?
HOW can we get there, can we get there?
HOW can we get there, can we get there?"
In the middle of a transition period - where you are is not where you want to be. Both knowing and questioning the path forwards. In a state of certain uncertainty. All will be well, but will I survive? This is the end of the current state. A re-birth may be the only option - the only way out is in, and through.
A heavily rhythmic, motoric breeze emanates from Warsaw 480km. If you have listened to Can before then you will recognise the feeling and swift field of sonics: groove-intense; thickly-specked psychedelia; viscous drips; heavy air; heavy lungs; heavy heart. Feel that thud in your throat, the swell in your brain. The sudden eye-watering expanse. pôt-pot, with their hypnotic, chant-like approach to choruses, lull you onto another plane.
"Fake Eyes" is drenched in atmosphere. Less linear in a sense; more focused on soundscape aura. It's the first time that the album has hopped-off of the forwards motion that it revels within. It shows another side of the band; more in line with what you would find on earlier EP's such as 2020's High Civilisations - of which also features a track titled "Fake Eyes". You could call it an updated version. Mark of pôt-pot had this to say with regards to "Fake Eyes": "Honestly I just always felt like that track and I had unfinished business. I recorded it very scratchily on that 2020 record and had also recorded a demo of it with drum machines and the guitar line you hear on the record. It had been floating around in my head for a long time and I wanted to give it the respect I thought it deserved." You can read the full interview with Mark over at BLIGATORY *link*
"I AM!" features guitar tricks that you would find on The Velvet Underground's influential debut record - "All Tomorrow's Parties" for a point of reference, the whole album is home to a rather quirky approach. The quick-pick and somewhat hectic plectrum style is put to good use in the latter half of the track. A sense of urgency propels the track towards its closing moments.
The Sheriff slowly rides into town on "Can't Handle It". Business in the front and business in the back. A little insecure on the love front though. Re-assurance will set him right.
"Tell me baby do you feel alright?"
Guitars rise amidst the cool, laidback demeanour of the groove. Their crisp-grit feel like stabs of anxious sentiments. In control on the outside looking in; a different story in reverse. Six slugs; one has my own name on it. A light shines out, but nothing shines back. A thankless existence.
Of a similar sonic world to "Can't Handle It", "Two Lights Are On" harbours a gangly, cold Cowboy Western vibe. A jazzy rhythm section sets the tone - what feels like a double bass whoozes - before the ever-present guitar takes hold.
The seductive energy of a kinetic pull sweeps you up in deep rhythmic pulses on penultimate track "Hot Scene". A seedy, wispy beckoning of addiction you can't kick calls your name.
"A for the apple; B for the bite you take."
The ethereal spirit of a chokehold grips your being. The days are getting longer. Unbearably so.
A short-and-sweet jingle-jangle in "Change Your Life" and Warsaw 480km comes to a close. No one else can change you, and you can't change others. Acceptance of the current state may be the only source for less soul-weight.
pôt-pot impress on their first full-length.
