Chapterhouse - Whirlpool (Album Review)

 

Chapterhouse - Whirlpool

(1991)


My copy: 2020 reissue by Music On Vinyl.


English band Chapterhouse were at one point lumped in with the languid psychedelia of Spacemen 3, but would mostly dispel this comparison on their 1991 debut full-length, instead opting to carry the heaviness of shoegaze into tightly written brit-pop. 

“Breather” kicks off immediately into cheerful, pop melodies and rapid tom fills. Chapterhouse’s take on shoegaze here is more sun-soaked and down-to-Earth, though it retains the stretched, obscured vocal stylings of their contemporaries. Reversed guitar lines pass through the up-beat single “Pearl” which includes shallow attempts at variety (hand drums, out of place record scratching). “Autosleeper” is the first truly interesting track, as the album finally embraces some form of dissonance in the vocal lines. The drums pound ominously before combusting into double-time choruses that turn listeners on their heads. The synth on “Autosleeper” is also exceptionally encapsulating. 

Hazy guitar fills the more languid tune of “Treasure” which crinkles in the verses and smooths out with double-time hi-hat in the choruses; the hand drums are a weird inclusion that don’t add anything. “Falling Down” is an absolutely bizarre tonal shift with wah-wah guitar a la Alice In Chains and a tense bass line that starts to grow on you. The bass then opens up in the chorus, which becomes serene. There is an airy romanticism to the waltz of droning guitars on “April” while conversely the guitars on “Guilt” carve intense valleys of noise before the track is reawakened from a nightmare into stylish arpeggios. 

“If You Want Me” starts clean with an annoying glockenspiel but gradually adds heavy elements back into the mix, culminating with ripping distorted guitar. “Something More” follows a similar philosophy with bombastic, distorted choruses, this time starting more in the vein of Cocteau Twins with chorus-tipped acoustic guitar. 

Chapterhouse’s approach is not quite entrancing enough to dethrone the landscapes curated by the likes of say My Bloody Valentine or Slowdive, but they give fellow noisy brit-poppers Ride a good run for their money. Whirlpool feels like a semi-confused album, one that hesitates at truly embracing the grandeur of other shoegaze records. The production is largely focused on the mid and high-end frequencies, but the songs just don’t feel as full as they should. In the end, it is at least a great addition to the shoegazing canon for “Autosleeper” alone.

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