East of the Valley Blues

Duelling blues, simultaneously piquant and distorted, from one of Death Is Not The End’s few extant acts, following the label string of compilation pearls Back for third servings after an eponymous debut and ‘Fayet’ in 2017, Torontonian siblings Kevin and Patrick Cahill pick out bittersweet, wayward blues on these 2020 recordings made in their home city and out by the lakes in Kirkfield. We’re not sure if they’re twins, but the Cahills appear to work at near subconscious, telepathic levels of familiarity with an ideal balance of stressed and lilting guitar tones in the first half’s table of events taking in almost Tuareg-esque desert blues in ‘Joujoux Est,’ while naturally spooling a sort of instrumental storytelling in ‘Automatic Biography,’ and the sorely expressive tone of ‘Cut Whole House Open.’ The other side initially offers lilting relief from the more caustic grip of their previous, committing to a strolling pace and rolling melodies but gradually becoming more porous to noise and angular, unpredictable as the piece moves deeper into the woods.