Tocsin, like several albums he released around this period, showcases
Elliott Sharp's
more rock-oriented side, featuring fairly short tracks with strutting
rhythms and (for him) catchy hooks. The opener, "Raptor," as well as "My
Blood Is Boiling," sound like something smuggled in from a
Blind Idiot God session (BIG member
Ted Epstein
is, in fact, thanked in the notes accompanying the disc) with their
surging bassline and over-the-top guitar work. Other tracks vary
somewhat from the dark, malevolent strain that normally is part and
parcel of a
Sharp album; "Sockets" even gets into some
P-Funk style grooves (!). Much of the rest is the sort of roiling, aggressive music
Sharp fans were accustomed to, if a bit slicker than the earlier incarnations of
Carbon (like
I/S/M)
where roughness and lack of sharp edges were valued. The leader
displays considerable chops, especially on pieces like "Big Lie," where
he shows himself the equal of any number of more celebrated pickers, but
perhaps takes too much of the spotlight; one wishes to have heard more
up-front contributions from the fine harpist
Zeena Parkins, for example. Still,
Tocsin is probably one of
Sharp's
most accessible projects, quite handsomely recorded and one that most
rock fans would have little trouble enjoying. Listeners hoping for
something on the more visceral level of his
Larynx, for example, would be better served looking elsewhere.
