Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Ultimate Painting

Ultimate Painting

Label: Trouble In Mind Release Date: 27/10/2014

98170
jmclark37 by Jon Clark October 23rd, 2014

Veronica Falls and Mazes. Mazes and Veronica Falls. For those of us whose knowledge of these two acts extended little further than listening to and enjoying their music, this collaborative record between Jack Cooper and James Hoare, under the moniker Ultimate Painting, will be a surprise – a pleasant one at that. The melding of their two distinctive styles is equally pleasant; so is the entirely analogue production, the good ol’ fashioned DIY split cassette spirit and the album art. Unexpected or not, this is a welcome collaboration.

Recalling post-John Cale Velvets, mid-period Beatles and many other bands of the Sixties era from that period before things turned more in favour of heavy psych and hard rock, Ultimate Painting is a record that not only bears witness to a duo that understand each other extremely well, but one that brings about further realisation in the listener as to how memorable each of the members are within their own acts.

You can hear Jack Cooper’s fizzy guitar lines and playful vocals and instantly recognise them as the prime mover of Mazes’ krautrock-indebted psychedelics; likewise James Hoare’s hypnotised, low voice and introspective lyrics work as well here as they do as in the infectious goth-C86 of Veronica Falls. Together the band work wonders: Ultimate Painting is a seamless collaborative effort that, while by no means groundbreaking, is a notable success.



There is a feeling of comfort within Cooper and Hoare’s interplay that is at the root of this LP. The guitars meld into a cohesive whole. The vocals, while nasal and high with one member and low and introverted with the next, find their place next to each other; complimenting and accentuating each dissimilar aspect. Dark lyrical themes (depression, obsessive compulsive disorder) are touched upon and explored in tracks such as ‘Winter Your Heart’ and ‘Ten Street’, but there is a curious duality within the tracks as the bouncy guitar work pulls the lyrics into more optimistic territory, whilst clouding itself over in the process.

This subtle tendency towards light and shade throughout Ultimate Painting is indicative of the two parent bands’ contradictory styles. ‘She’s A Bomb’, for example, is heavy with hazy guitar and low vocals until it is swiftly elevated by Cooper’s part, whilst ‘Talkin’ Central Park Blues’ is typical of its name, a jaunty Dylanesque track which is subtly darkened by backing vocals by Hoare.

However, it is not all eerie contradictions and subtle flecks of darkness, and what really comes across on this record is the enjoyment that the band had making it, not to mention how well they did so, and therein lies its success. The opening track exemplifies this wonderfully: lilting, hazy and awash with understated guitar fills, ‘Ultimate Painting’ on Ultimate Painting by Ultimate Painting sets the precedent for a record that doesn’t look back once. This is not a wild departure from either of the duo’s bands, but it is a pleasingly fruitful one.

![98170](http://dis.resized.images.s3.amazonaws.com/540x310/98170.jpeg)
  • 8
    Jon Clark's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees



Left-arrow

The Twilight Sad

Nobody Wants To Be Here & Nobody Wants To Leave

Mobback
98169
98172

Thurston Moore

The Best Day

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145
  • news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143

    news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141
  • news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139

    Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138
  • Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137

    Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
  • Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
MORE


    news


    The Neptune Music Prize 2016 - Vote Now

  • 103918
  • Takeover


    The Winner Takes It All

  • 50972

    Takeover


    10 Things To Not Expect Your Record Producer To...

  • 93724
  • review


    The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

  • 4317

    review


    Sonic Youth - Nurse

  • 6044
  • feature


    New Emo Goth Danger? My Chemical Romance confro...

  • 89578

    feature


    DiS meets Justice

  • 27270
  • news


    Our Independent music filled alternative to New...

  • 104374
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND