Wellwater Conspiracy - The Scroll and Its Combinations

There is some strong material on this album, but it seems to have trouble surfacing up from under the swarm of guitar overdubs, tweaked vocals, terribly uninteresting "guest" musicians, and overly wrought and contrived songwriting. In short, this album, which totals just over 37 minutes, is too little too worked over. Nowhere on this album, save for the two cover songs, can I detect that "feel" I found so enjoyable on albums 1 and 2, and in it`s place is an overcompensating attempt to achieve the "sound." While it sounds like Cameron and McBain are still enjoying what they`re doing, and in places it does groove (or at least tries to) the thang just ain`t got no soul.

Excesses and soulessness aside, "What Becomes of the Clock," "Now, Invisibly" and "The Scroll" are probably the strongest tracks, demonstrating best what this duo is capable of doing well: creative songwriting that has borders touching psyche/garage bands of yesteryear, yet successfully establishes its own post-60`s realm without indulging in tedious tongue-in-cheek or gross retro hero worship. The two covers, "I Got Nightmares" and "Of Dreams," both from ultra-obscure 60`s bands, Q 65 and Morgan respectively, also are high points on the album, as their more straight-forward and simple forms give the listener reprieve from the fruits of over-labor that occupy the remaining. "Tidepool Telegraph" is a decent opener, but is unfortunately overextended, which drains it of its solidity overall. "C, Myself and Eye" and "Tick Tock 3 O`Clock" are both pitifully contrived, which a mindful listener could gather just from the titles. Same too for "Felicity`s Surprise," which differs only in that Ed Vedder, under an annoying pseudonym, steps in to offers some equally contrived lyrics of his own, and ends up sounding fake and out of place. Rounding out this very uneven collection is the forgettable "Brotherhood of Electric" and the completely useless instrumental outro, "Keppy`s Lament."

Of course, since WWC is largely an experimental group, a few duds are inevitable, and the album isn`t a complete waste of a listenerýs time: Cameron, who does a very fine job of handling most of the vocals, also offers up some of his most creative drumming to date and McBain is a beyond solid guitarist is actually seems interested in playing guitar (which he does very well) and not just in the idea of being a guitar player in a band. Musicianship isnýt lacking in WWC, and this album does at least bare witness to that, so sworn allies of the conspiracy will no doubt adore this album simply for its mere existence. Still, I don`t think too much optimism is inspired by the arc of WWC`s first three albums, although at least, they don`t appear to be evolving into horrible boogie rock, pretentious prog rock or ELO, unlike many of the long-surviving 60`s bands they are emulating. Since Cameron and McBain are a talented pair who`ve proven in the past their collaboration can be a very fruitful and creative one, I`ll readily forgive them for this sad little third album and hope for the best on their fourth, which is due out the day after my writing this review.