Lucent/Say I Am – Penguin For The Sake Of Penguin (2014)

Allow me to begin by simply saying that Penguin For The Sake Of Penguin is a technological bookmark. It exhibits the degree of high quality recordings non-commercial stay-at-home musicians are able to produce. I never get bored of thanking both home audio software packages and the internet for bridging the gap between musicians’ artistic endeavours and my ears. Now, musicians like Plini, Sithu Aye, Zef’s Chasing Cara, A.M Overcast, Invalids, and in this case, Lucent and Say I Am, are able to deliver straight to my home, most of the time for free. Technology, I’d like to buy you a beer.

Penguin For The Sake Of Penguin is the collaborative effort of Lucent and Say I Am, two Ohio dudes who spend most of their time playing music and ripping on each other. Songs like ‘Blueberry’ and ‘Axis’ showcase Lucent’s joyous and highly angular guitar melodies and his experimentation with non-diatonic chords, often echoing bands like Town Portal and You Slut!. Many of the tracks are bordered by ambient guitar reverb, which lets the music wander in between the real and the ethereal. Lucent is versatile with his vocals, ranging from the growling sermons of ‘Blueberry’, to the softer and pensive chant of ‘Stomping Leaves’.

Say I Am, perhaps in contrast to Lucent, has a much more sustained and progressive sound, topped with razor sharp hooks, moody vocal harmonies, and the occasional Richard D. James-esque electronic interlude. ‘Lenny’ is the clear stand-out here, laying down a beguiling and uplifting chord progression under xylophones, saxophones and a ton of cool pedal effects.

What Penguin For The Sake Of Penguin exactly means is probably not that important; its an arbitrary term with no concrete connotations. What it is is an umbrella term for a goddamn riff bonanza (for the sake of being a riff bonanza). The split contains over an hour of fist-pumping madness, features vibrant artwork by Yvette Young and is completely free. Come see how far we’ve progressed as a species.