Max Knouse - Chipmunk'd Away (Jealous Butcher)
- The Slow Music Movement
- Jun 4
- 1 min read
Max Knouse has a raw, down to earth charm underpinning some serious musical chops and two wayward albums, not to mention live collaborations with Califone, Psychic Temple, and Alex Dupree under his belt. He's certainly doing his bit to keep the West Coast's deviant folk fusion scene fresh and freaky.
Whistling accompanied guitar noodling gets "Chipmunk’d Away" rolling, and let's face it we need a whistling revival in recorded music. It's not long though before Knouse opens his mouth wider to say hello, his voice somehow blending familiarity, especially in the higher range, with a rare earthiness that drags you into the present to hear what the man has to say. It's a voice you want to trust.
After its shy start it doesn't take long for the guitar to get cooking either, roused into action by textural percussion that even at its peak melts into the song rather than propels it. Knouse adopts a similar laidback approach to his guitar playing, ambling along seemingly lost in thought most of the time, occasionally upping the intensity and form to accentuate his vocals when he feels like it. If that wasn't enough, and it could well have been, a mouth harp and what sounds like a flute from an adjacent room add some microdosed twang and swirl to accentuate the song's outsider credentials.
It's a fine slice of twenty first century acid-folk and I'm looking forward to the June 13th LP already.
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