Bushwalking: No Enter

- Bushwalking are sounding more serious on record number two, their first for Melbourne label Chapter Music. Aesthetically, No Enter shares a lot of the aesthetics of label-mates Beaches; both bands heavily feature guitars and guitar pedals jamming. In case you didn’t know already the band consists of Karl Scullin of Kes Band; Nina Venerosa of Fabulous Diamonds; Ela Stiles of Songs. They come across as Warpaint crossed with My Disco. Vaguely reminiscent of the post-punk revival scene in the mid-2000s but with palpably beautiful disengaged voices. Scullin adds a lot to the band, his guitar beautifully deconstructed on songs like No Men and Neetneves Eno. A lot of Kes Band shines through, in particular on the latter track when it breaks into tropical jingle. None of the songs are more Kes Band than the last track, Always Here. It sticks out like a sore thumb being the only sullen acoustic song and also that it is uncharacteristically wordy. The song holds up the most on repeated listens and I wish that the rest of the album were as gentle and considered. For the most part, No Enter feels like a collection of jams. Maybe it is. Let’s entertain the thought that most of the record was jammed out in a particular room and the album is the fruit of that labour. The quality of the room and the way in which the sounds of the instruments decay within it is louder than the songs. Worst offender is the six and half minute de ja vu that is the title-track, answering the question of ‘what if the bass-line from No Men was played a third lower’. No Enter seems like it could have benefited from more time in the oven. There are some very talented people at work here but this icing is missing a cake and the recipe is a Brion Gysin cut-up. - Josh Watson.