Venus & Fergus

An interesting addition to the slow-building instrumental crowd, Calgary, AB’s Venus & Fergus is strictly a family affair with two sets of brothers coming together for this strong, if slightly mundane, effort. The title of this EP also indicates the songs found within, and while "Skyo” starts slow with its subtle Mid-Eastern drone, it quickly builds to a guitar-layered intense climax in a short amount of time. The aptly titled "Epic” closes the EP and it seemingly incorporates the sound and ideas of the previous two songs and sweeps it all together wonderfully. From the spare movie samples, to the admirable violin and trumpet, "Epic” draws them in, building tensions and keeping the listener rapt with attention. Coming closest to Do Make Say Think in terms of sound, the song gets even more interesting when the liner notes state that all the orgy of instruments were only played by the four musicians. Around the halfway mark, the sound brings to mind a warehouse full of people going at it in remarkable synchronisation, yet apparently it’s just admirable editing. From the apparent vision and talent, Venus & Fergus make a strong impression, but next time, they need to try and come up with a better title.