Tocsin

by Brian OlewnickTocsin, like several albums he released around this period, showcases Elliott Sharp's more rock-oriented side, featuring fairly short tracks with strutting rhythms and (for him) catchy hooks. The opener, "Raptor," as well as "My Blood Is Boiling," sound like something smuggled in from a Blind Idiot God session (BIG member Ted Epstein is, in fact, thanked in the notes accompanying the disc) with their surging bassline and over-the-top guitar work. Other tracks vary somewhat from the dark, malevolent strain that normally is part and parcel of a Sharp album; "Sockets" even gets into some P-Funk style grooves (!). Much of the rest is the sort of roiling, aggressive music Sharp fans were accustomed to, if a bit slicker than the earlier incarnations of Carbon (like I/S/M) where roughness and lack of sharp edges were valued. The leader displays considerable chops, especially on pieces like "Big Lie," where he shows himself the equal of any number of more celebrated pickers, but perhaps takes too much of the spotlight; one wishes to have heard more up-front contributions from the fine harpist Zeena Parkins, for example. Still, Tocsin is probably one of Sharp's most accessible projects, quite handsomely recorded and one that most rock fans would have little trouble enjoying. Listeners hoping for something on the more visceral level of his Larynx, for example, would be better served looking elsewhere.