♫♪  Allison’s Gate - “I Should Go”

No matter which way you spin it, nor how cliché it sounds to put it into words, every song released by Carolina McPhail (who makes music as Allison’s Gate) feels like a postcard from another plane of existence. The patchwork mishaps of stuttering guitars and vocals that float like debris in an ocean of tape hiss, they alway sound like they’re trying to tell you something in a language you’ve never even heard of.

In that way, I guess, “I Should Go” could be a breakup song. For those prone to withdrawal as a coping mechanism for loss, it certainly feels like one. But like an early Liz Harris recording, whatever it has to say is hidden away —a face turned towards the darkness obscuring its whispered message. Here on this planet we speak with our tongues, but somewhere far away, where Allison’s Gate resides, they opt for the delay pedal instead. Maybe you can make something of it, linguist and paleographist that you are. But for the rest of us it’s the mystery —no more, no less— that keeps the record spinning.

Chocolate Grinder

CHOCOLATE GRINDER is our audio/visual section, with an emphasis on the lesser heard and lesser known. We aim to dig deep, but we’ll post any song or video we find interesting, big or small.

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