Country: 
Bandlink
Label: Quartier 23
Genre: Rock, Electronic
Tracklisting:
01 Splinters
02 She’s Able
03 High Atlas
04 All Ov These Cities
05 Golden Beast
06 Poh Teck Tung
07 Ape Ov Thoth
08 Equilibrium
09 Ancient Ov Days
10 Walworth road Surrealist
11 You’re Crazy
12 Never Say Goodbye
There is something fundamentally carnal, sleazy, and very masculine about the work on “Zodios”.
Sean Woodward is, without a doubt, one of THE most fascinating figures in the Post-Industrial underground. He is as far away from the grip of pretension as can be. His work is honest and fresh. He doesn’t try to freak people out who are numb to “darkness”. Doesn’t even bother, the guy is just making the most of his great mood and possibly even better outlook on life. There’s mix of love musings to unseen broads, casually-delivered touches of Crowley teachings, and fantastical, Astrological declarations, is all highly entertaining when he blended it with his unstable guitar handlings, cheap-ass drum machine tracks, and sexy electronics. The piano work on here is only an amplification of that natural swagger his. Another thing that comes to mind is that he could just as easily have been some Lounge-Demon on either the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” TV series, or its respective spin-off, “Angel”. I could make this happen someday, actually.
I DO know they guy who did make-up for Buffy… I really did fall for “High Atlas”. The key its in, the soft keyboards, but especially the oud-sounding lute on there. Nothing gets my attention quicker than things with a Middle-Eastern flavor to them. The lack of overbearing sadness on “Poh Teck Tung”, Mr. Woodward’s tribute to Sleazy C. is a welcome change to all the deeply sorrowful homages Ive been hearing lately. The funk-and-shuffle of “She’s Able”, the overall Lynchian abstract that is this whole album, all these things made this album very appealing to me and put me in a great, confident frame of mind. Though Sean lives in the UK, he is one of the many who can take it upon themselves to take very American styles and improve upon them. Certainly makes it his own, too. This might just be a new addition to my workout routine, a lovely accompaniment to all the muscle-bound dudes who are too conceited to check me out, even though I’m not hideous. I know it will play well one of these days as I strut down Hollywood Boulevard, feeding off the energy and excitement of the tourists before they realize how much of a piece of shit Los Angeles really is. “Zodios” is the new groove! Almost every bit as cracked out and gorgeous as LA can be.
And I say that with Love.
Rating: 3/5
