In one of those quirks of prescience that makes delving into new music an ever-inspiring quest, I’d watched David Lynch’s 1997 psychological noir bombardment Lost Highway the night before hearing this debut set from Belgian electronic rock trio Go March.
Their guitarist Philipp Weies describes being inspired by the film’s recurring image of a car hurtling down a dark highway at night, and the sense of tunnel-vision repetition it evokes. Joined by Hans De Prins on synths and drummer Antoni Foscez, he whips up the eight lengthy exercises in jagged guitar resonance, electronic foraging and motorik repetition which take on a life of their own on instrumentals such as The Ship Of Bambi, Chase and Rise as ringing riffs kick in. The effect can be hypnotic, even mesmerising, although Lighthouse displays one of the breakthroughs to the other side which regularly pop up as it careers through Motown soul guitar into its percolating drone, before the album winds up in the shimmering soundscapes of The White Lodge (betraying another Lynch fixation in its Twin Peaks-inspired title). Dark, challenging but ultimately inspiring, it’s a ride worth taking.
