If many people reckon instrumental rock sounds like the soundtrack for a film that was never made, 3epkano’s music is often the live soundtrack for some of the best films ever made (including Battleship Potemkin and Metropolis).
Their second album At Land proves they’re just as strong outside the cinema, conjuring an atmosphere not too far from Mogwai’s signature dynamics, only with more emphasis on melody and fewer concerted attempts to terrify the listener. ‘Loop Station’ is all quavering strings and spindly guitar figures, while the closer ‘Hovering Above The Sea’ drifts by on somnolent drums and wind-blown string arabesques.
However, when the fit takes them, they can conjure some truly disturbing soundscapes. ‘Towers Open Fire’ is an exercise in controlled violence, with lurching guitars and cannon-fire drums, while ‘Torture Room’ – all skewed twangings, tribal beats and groaning cellos – is a quiet nightmare of a song.
All in all, they boast a sonic palette more varied than most orchestras. At times it’s hard to know if they’re a jazz band (‘Blood Of A Poet’) or a chamber duo with guitars (‘Distant Outings’), but when they play both roles this convincingly, who’s complaining?