The Strange - Nights of Forgotten Films (2004)

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The Strange - Nights of Forgotten Films (2004)

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In an era of mashups and rampant genre cross-fertilization, I suppose a collaboration between the founder of The Walkabouts-one of the greatest and most prolific American Gothic bands of the past two decades– and a Croatian surf-rock band with the nerve to call themselves The Bambi Molesters should come as no surprise. What is perhaps more unexpected, is that this collaboration is a resounding success….

…Anyone who thinks of surf as expressly sunny music will have their mind changed by this record. The dual guitars of Dalibor Pavicic and Dinko Tomljanovic are dripping in cavernous spring reverb, but Hrvoje Zaborac's roomy, understated drums and Lada Furlan Zaborac's slinking bass keep them rooted on dry land, free to roam every deep old-growth forest and poorly lit alleyway they can find. Occasional piano, organ, and trumpet darken the edges, and Eckman is the deadpan centerpiece, breathily narrating the blackness of the night with a delivery perched in the gray area between spoken storytelling and melody. He goes the furthest in the latter direction on "These Lies", a beautiful, mostly acoustic piece of jazz-inflected folk that somehow combines the feel of a campfire in the woods and the pools of light on an empty city street…

…So give credit to Eckman and his Croatian crew: Nights of Forgotten Films is everything a collaboration should be.