When I first began listening to Beck Zegans’ debut album, Engraving Of Armor (Exploding In Sound), I had a little trouble getting a fix on what I was hearing. It’s not that I had any expectations, as I hadn’t heard her name before, even though she’s from Queens and has probably performed with bands I like at venues I’ve been to. There were a couple of slightly psychedelic songs to open the album, crisp indie rockers, more brooding psych, a synthy track followed by a loud blast of guitars, both of which featured El Kempner of Palehound…what was going on here?
I can be a little slow, I guess, but by the fourth listen, it dawned on me: this is a GREAT ROCK ALBUM. The sound overall is remarkably rich, too, making it somewhat surprising that Engraving Of Armor is essentially a trio album, with Zegans’ guitar, vocals, and synths supported by Alex MacKay on bass and synths, and Julian Fader on drums and synths. MacKay, who also produced the album with Zegans and Fader, might be familiar if you’ve read my words on Cutouts or Nation Of Language. Fader is also known for his work in Remember Sports and Ava Luna.
Each song began with a home demo by Zegans, who then added layers to the tracks with MacKay at his studio, before sending Fader the songs to lay down the rhythms and more at his studio. But whatever the players’ provenance or the production methods, they sound like a tight unit, interacting to bring these emotionally driven songs to life in the best way possible.
Zeroing in on Record Tamer, the second song on the album, should be all you need to hear to become a Beck Zegans fan. Beginning with pensive guitar arpeggios and faint synth whirs, it picks up steam with Fader’s busy drum part, which evinces both stasis and forward motion. Zegans enters, her clear voice dreamy, as if in another world from the instrumentation. Additional synths burble on, and the bass undergirds everything with its own pattern. As her voice soars even higher, the synths compete with icy grandiosity, but it’s no contest. As the instruments fade away, Zegans prevails, as she does throughout this wonderful album.
