Lark

I Don’t Got’ is the second album from singer-songwriter Karl Bielik. I don’t remember hearing ‘Shop’ but the lads in the office have got nothing but praise for the man’s work. It would appear that this sentiment has been echoed by the likes of Andrew Weatherall, Brendan Lynch and Erol Alkan who have all worked on remixes for Bielik. His style is familiar to me sitting somewhere between the ramshackle party punk of The Cramps and the more eccentric skronk of Beefheart or perhaps Tom Waits. There are occasional moments that stray from this blueprint especially on synth led tracks but Bielik’s rant-aholic stream on conscience lyrical style holds these loose themes together very naturally. Production and compositional experimentation are the order of the day on ‘I Don’t Got’ which makes for an intriguing listen and will have you coming back for more. Excellent stuff. - Norman Records

lark's first single ,the punk-funk cross-over classic, 'the animal's claw' was a rough trade record of the week and was remixed by countless djs from new york's in flagranti to erol alkan who rated it in his top ten tracks of the year. soon after, their debut album shop attracted favourable comparisons to the fall, daniel johnston and the stooges while their powerful live performances garnered the support of many uk pop and rock luminaires. one such pop icon, scritti politti saw them play in an east end pub and invited them to support him live. since then green gartside has taken one of their most popular live tracks, 'a failed scheme', completely deconstructing it and then meticulously replaying every part to the extent that he borrowed instruments from the band to achieve the right sound. only songwriter and frontman karl bielik's belligerent vocals remain untouched in high contrast to gartside's own distinctive voice that makes a cameo appearance in the track. although an almost scientific exercise in analogue replication the evidence of gartside's pop production is undeniable. - Rough Trade

karl bielik hollers and shrieks his way through these 15 tracks, sometimes resembling nick cave's baritone-voiced preacherman, sometimes lurching off into a demented falsetto and occasionally sounding like mark e smith fronting the cramps. his beefheart-ish backing band maintain a similarly unhinged and studiedly amateurish variety of skronk - it throws up myriad references - daniel johnston, tom waits' junkyard jazz, early human league - but the wonky, unsettling world it creates is completely bielik's own'. larks second album sees its founder, frontman and songwriter karl bielik present a purely solo project. the band's first album ,shop, backed by their powerful live performances for the likes of scritti politti and rob da bank has seen them gain plaudits from a growing fan base and musical luminaires. - Uncut

I never got the appeal of Green Gartside, never understood how he came to be so respected. Granted, my knowledge of Scritti Politti’s output is limited, but the singles releases, in particular ‘The Word Girl’ and ‘Absolute’ struck me as nauseatingly sugary, not to mention limp and as wet as a puddle. This single has compelled me to reconsider on that score at least, but then again, this isn’t even a Gartside composition.

You could be justified in asking ‘what’s the point’? Why would Gartside embark on a project to completely re-record all of the parts to ‘A Failed Scheme’ by obscure East London act Lark, going so far as to borrow the band’s own kit to do it, before whacking the original vocals back on top? An obsessive exercise in deconstruction and reconstruction simply doesn’t explain or justify it, but then to describe it as a form of cover version or remix wouldn’t be particularly accurate either.

Ultimately, though, it probably doesn’t matter, and the point is making a decent record, which this most certainly is. It’s an impressive work of production: the guitars are rich, dense, solid, and there’s an overall chunkiness to the recording – as befits the heavy-duty 7” vinyl format. There’s a lunging swagger to the gritty blues-based riff, while a stomping rhythm and a relentless piano note just keep on going and the drawling, semi-manic vocal delivery just finishes it perfectly. - www.whisperinandhollerin.com

Any band whose sound draws comparisons to a frothy mix of Tom Waits, The Fall and Roxy Music is work a listen, no? That Lark are described as such by their own label ought not to taint your curiosity. "I Don't Got" sure covers a lot of ground in fifteen tracks. The East London quintet may not soar as high as their idols, but their ragged, deft attempts are often in the ballpark of greatness.
If Svengoolie sat in with The Cramps, the horror-pop of "Palucca" and "Bleeding" might have been the result. From the sludge jam on "Kong" to the lo-fi dance of "Sling," a lot of emotional and musical moods are covered. But the overall impression is of warped grandeur.
"That's What People Do" is hauntingly minimal, with a creepy and truly disturb spoken word; think Jandek in tune. "Slung" is all disjointed broken piano rhythm, as disturbing as any quiet instrumental is likely to get. Likewise, the one chord "Need Me" also makes you fear for singer/songwriter Karl Bielik's sanity.
"The Scream" and "Another Lover" are greasy, muffled punk tunes, and are probably where the Waits reference came from. The childlike dementia of "We Dance" closes things down on an appropriately harrowing, surreal note.
For a second album, "I Don't Got" is stunning in its range of ideas and raw poetic power. That it is by turns creepy and darkly fun only adds to the sense that Lark are here to stay, unless they hurt themselves real bad.
- Music Emissions

4 Stars - "Another dose of uber-anxious lurching and lo-fi post punk" - Time Out

in the words of Uncut's four star review - karl bielik hollers and shrieks his way through these 15 tracks, sometimes resembling nick cave's baritone-voiced preacherman, sometimes lurching off into a demented falsetto and occasionally sounding like mark e smith fronting the cramps. his beefheart-ish backing band maintain a similarly unhinged and studiedly amateurish variety of skronk - it throws up myriad references - daniel johnston, tom waits' junkyard jazz, early human league - but the wonky, unsettling world it creates is completely bielik's own'. larks second album sees its founder, frontman and songwriter karl bielik present a purely solo project. the band's first album ,shop, backed by their powerful live performances for the likes of scritti politti and rob da bank has seen them gain plaudits from a growing fan base and musical luminaires. - Rough Trade