There are records in my collection that I honestly can't say why I bought. I was about to say that this is one such record, but I just looked up the details of when I bought it in my spreadsheet and now I see why it's here - it was £3.50. Mystery solved; I love a bargain. I don't know why it was so cheap, but at that price it's hard to say no.
I guess I knew the name A Place to Bury Strangers at least - as band names go, it's a great one and one that's hard to forget. I'd certainly never heard any of their music when I bought this EP, but somehow I knew roughly what to expect - maybe Banquet had a description on the sleeve saying "shoegaze" but also "heavy"; those two words sum the band up pretty well. The wall of noise that hit me was certainly not a surprise. Onwards to the Wall is five songs of loud, guitar-fuzz and noise shoegaze. The title track features some female vocals as well as the male singer, which breaks things up a bit. There's an 80's feel to the whole thing that I can't quite find the words to explain, as well as some industrial undertones that appeal to me. I just noticed that the drummer from Baroness plays drums on two of the songs.
I like this EP and play it more regularly than the next sentence would imply. I've never got round to seeking out any of their other music though. Partly that's because I never see their albums in record shops, but I think I might be on the fence even if I did. When I listen to shoegaze I definitely enjoy it, but I don't consider myself a fan of the genre; moreover, I have enough shoegaze albums that I can get my fix whenever I need it. Maybe I've just not spent enough time with the genre to appreciate the subtle differences between bands and get excited by and seek out more of the ones I like. Maybe it's the genre itself - it almost feels intentionally un-inviting.
Anyway, I suspect this record will remain something of an anomaly in my collection - a sole APTBS record not surrounded by its friends. That is, unless I stumble across any of the others for such cheap prices.
Format: 12"
Tracks: 5
Cost: £3.50 new
Bought: Banquet Records, Kingston
When: 18/07/13
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code
