Julian Fulton just released his excellent new EP Battered Receptions and it is a wonderfully eclectic selection of tunes that display the immense talent of the singer-songwriter. The EP is the third offering of the music Fulton has been working on while members of his band The Zombie Gospel were taking some downtime and the songs here are some of his strongest.
Opener “Howl” rages with the same intensity as the epic poem of the same name by the Beat Generation’s Allen Ginsberg. The gritty, distorted vocals and low-fi treatment get the anger across without a doubt as Fulton laments “something here has got to give.” The defiance is real and indeed we believe they will not kill us in the streets. Things take a lighter turn with “Rosie’s Disposition” as the tale of Rosie is told in a rapid, stream-of-consciousness delivery. The song has a Paul-Simon-early-70s feel and the change of gears from the first song is pleasantly striking. There is some sweet guitar plucking here in this standout track.
Following the short instrumental “A Familiar Kind of Unknown” we have the soulful “Stranger’s Advice” that examines the nagging what-if questions we all ask ourselves from time to time. Lost opportunities are the thoughts that cause sleepless nights and an air of melancholy hangs over this gorgeous song that has touches of psychedelica. Closer “For You” is a psyched out complex soundwave jam that encompasses much of what came before it.
Fulton continues to impress with each new batch of music he releases. I’ve been covering him for many years and he just gets better and better. But don’t take my word for it. Battered Receptions is all the proof you need.
You can pick-up Battered Receptions over at Fulton’s Bandcamp page or at iTunes.
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about the author: Ed Magdziak
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