SPANK ME MORE RECORDS !!!
The album was recorded live at the Red House Recordings studio with David Lenci. Overdubbing was done at the Roystone studio with Stéphane Loup, at Finkle's studio and at the Sounddicht.
Mixing by Finkle and mastering by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service.
The album is in shops (Belgian distribution by COD&S).
ABOUT "Ha Ha Ha!": "À l'ombre des projecteurs, la Belgique accule le rock dans ses retranchements et s'active en toute indépendance. Tenants tenaces de ces desseins féroces, les membres du groupe Pentark prennent racines dans un sol fertile où poussent les meilleures plantes : Shellac, Mono, Tortoise, Sonic Youth ou My Bloody Valentine mûrissent ici, loin des serres industrielles et des produits de grande consommation. Tournés vers la noise et l'expérimentation, les morceaux du premier album de Pentark pénètrent avec fureur et passion à travers un mur du son où basse, batterie et guitare s'enflamment à la moindre incartade. La musique tournoie, lorgne vers le jazz, explose et retombe toujours sur ses pattes. C'est donc une décharge électrique assainissante et fort rassurante à une époque où tant de groupes s'assemblent et se ressemblent." (www.conseildelamusique.be)
"It's all well and good to be making beautifully novel pieces of sound construction, but there is something unavoidably charming about a rock band that grooves perfectly, intuitively, together. Belgian band Pentark seem to have the kind of ensemble dynamic that lends itself to both tight composition and loose, improvisatory chaos.For the style they attempt – reminiscent of Slint, their contemporaries, and followers – this kind of approach, where the priority is to musical cohesion within the ensemble, has the potential to propel Pentark out of what could otherwise be seen as imitative pastiche.
The production on Pentark's debut Ha Ha Ha! can't be faulted for this arrangement, as every instrument is completely discernable from the others, leaving them to be bound in more esoteric, musical ways. Its minimal construction almost reminds me of sparser jazz trios – sax or trumpet bandleaders with super-tight rhythm sections. However, some of the really delicious elements come in the form of resolutely Slint-y performance on the guitars; the tone is raw and biting, exactly what you might want from a band that is as liberal with space as is Pentark. The snare sounds straight out of Steve Albini's studio, even when the band occupies spaces closer to slowcore - the tentative, emotional brother to 90s math rock. As lovely as the weirder, quieter moments in Pentark's album are, it is the huge, juicy explosions of guitar that give the album its impetus, those which increasingly inject themselves into the album towards the end, until the final track is utterly overrun.
But again, it ultimately comes back to how thoroughly "together" the band is. There's an undoubtedly Touch and Go vibe to this band, despite being located on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Arguably, when they're stylistically closer to what was typical of such bands in the 90s, is when Pentark really hits their stride. Listening to them take metrically inconsistent grooves in tracks like "Mon 863", I can't help but jump for joy that a band remembers a time when the kind of music people called "math rock" wasn't all jitters and tweeting guitars. The dependence here is on the groove – ultimately set up by the rhythm section, allowing the guitars to play off each other on their own terms.
The only criticism I'd give is that the primary groove that the band settles into is so generic and consistent that it has a tendency to become beige, lost among more flavorsome sections. However, apart from some select occasions, the interruptions of more muscular sections alleviate this issue before time comes that The Shipping News might call to order back their style. As far as guitar-based instrumental rock goes, this band hits the spot".
The Silent Ballet- Marcus Whale
DOWNLOAD AREA
THE SILENCE OF MYSTERY,
Pentark's new tune, appears on "Ha Ha Ha!" and on "Get Spanked!" Spank Me More Records' first compilation
spankmemore.com
GEOLOGICAL,
Preprod track mixed by Pierre Vervloesem, with special lyrics from the great Semour Hofman. Check it out!!!,
Click here to download the mp3
LOWERING SKY on the 2007 RHÂÂÂ LOVELY COMPILATION with a.o. Part Chimp, Rothko, Crippled Black Phoenix,. Free download of it on
thesilentballet.com
AU CASSE PIPES on the MASSACRES BELGES COMPILATION, VOL II. Check it out on www.massacresbelges.be
PURCHASE AREA
Pentark's FIRST ALBUM "Ha Ha Ha!", belgian distribution by COD&s from 21st january 2009 onwards. Available on
spankmemore.com
THE PENTARK EP can be purchased through CARBON RECORDS (NYC) www.carbonrecords.com/mailorder.
or SEND US AN E-MAIL at: pentark@spankmemore.com
ABOUT THE MUSIC
". This is an impressive release, with some astounding moments and an unexpectedly effective raw edge. However, it does not present instant accessibility to a listener, and some may be turned off by the challenging nature of the music. For those patient enough, it is worth the time." - Idris Hussein read more of The Silent Ballet's review
"… Évoluant dans une musique plus proche du post rock, le groupe après seulement quatre ou cinq concerts, est un des rare projet indépendant de toute structure. Il marque cependant avec son premier quatre-titres le poids d'un son et de structures novatrices et excitantes… »
- Caravan Pass 2007
"… une musique à la fois cérébrale et intuitive qui, à travers le neurone, désire toucher l'âme ; à la faire éclater dans une décharge d'énergie électrique et sexuelle…"
- Pit (code314)
PAST LIVE ACTS
10/05/08 at Garcia Lorca for the Cheap Thrills n°3
11/04/08 at Dunk Festival in Zottegem
28/03/08 at Magasin 4 w Action Beat and Project:Venhell
17/02/08 at Silent Bloc Studio live broadcasting on Frequency Radio
15/02/08 at Caves du Manoir (Martigny) w our swiss friends Lysergic Sunshine for the release of their 1st album!
27/01/08 at Den Trap w Casse-Brique
12/01/08 at péniche Fulmar w Casse-Brique, Autone and Frank Shinobi
30/11/07 Code314 B-day Party at Magasin 4
29/06/07 at Bear Rock Festival
28/06/07 at Living Festival
07/04/07 at Rhâââ Lovely Festival with Part Chimp, Rothko, A wisper in the noise,.
29/03/07 at Magasin 4with Passe Montagne
26/02/07 at Carlo Levi , Liège, with Thousand and Bramier (Zebra Booking & Carte Postale Records)
09/12/06 at Festival des Courtscircuités, Magasin 4, BXL (Honest House & Amstragram)
24/06/06 at Expo Vivante (Coccinelle Production)
MISCELLANEOUS
Interview PENTARK on 27/03/07 on radio Scorpio - de Geluidsarchitect, 106FM, 20h00, (Leuven) www.radioscorpio.com/degeluidsarchitect
PENTARK quoted in "Les Creative Commons en Belgique", Journée libre 20/05/2006
