Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
When Armageddon comes, invariably we won’t know what has hit us, the seven trumpets may sound, but we will be too immersed in the act of gluing our eyes to the latest gif and retweeting the odd moment of banality to wonder what the noise was, the sound of the bell tolling for us all.
None of us know what tune we will encounter when the clock strikes zero, and yet if we could choose between the rigours of destructive resonance and the charm and grace of Joe Gideon, it wouldn’t be a fair fight. For in the statement of persuasive intent supplied in his new solo album, Armagideon, the sound is not of trumpets glowering at the walls of Jericho, it is not the silent whoosh of temper boiling over and the alarm of white heat searing our senses shut, it is creative endurance reaching a magnificent sense of curiosity and the reverb of beauty stepping in to save the day.
Opening up with the extensive surround of Expandable Mandible, Joe Gideon snatches down on the ensuing panic of the unfaithful and allows those with belief in their hearts to rise up and feel the warmth of passion he wishes to spread, love of the music acting as an accelerant to a more divine purpose than that offered by those lusting after glory and the flash of dishonesty.
The former Bikini Atoll man plays with the attention of the listener with sensitivity and grace, but all the while making sure his own day of reckoning, that hardy beast of the new album release, is given the credence it truly deserves and across songs such as the aforementioned Expandable Mandible, Comet Coming Down, Scaredy Cat, Quack No Duck and Ancient Space Mariner, what the listener perceives from this excursion into brimming and sensuous mind, is one of exploration, of delving into a personality who knows there is so much discuss and so little time to acknowledge it all.
An album of the subtle bang and the peace of the everlasting, the judgement of all who take time to listen will surely be one of baited-breath and melted hearts.
Joe Gideon releases Armagideon on January 31st via Clouds Hill.
Ian D. Hall