Stuart Fork is the exciting, ambitious indie rock project of Northern California-based singer-songwriter and musician Kevin Castillo. Incorporating eclectic guitar tones, electronic and acoustic instruments and strong pop sensibilities as well as more avant-garde approaches to his craft, this not-even-12-minute EP absolutely flies by. It’s part eccentric pop-rock and part adventurous art experiment and is wholly fulfilling; and, we think it’s fair to say, equally challenging.
On the first track C Polly (Figure 8), he channels Surfer Blood (specifically the sound or energy of the second album Pythons), Kinda Grizzly’s newest recruit Justin Sconza and indie stalwart Mac Demarco. Track two – Bee State Gold Rush – veers into Apologies To The Queen Mary Territory and sees Wolf Parade-style erratic synths added to the melange of noise to excellent effect.
Track three – Kelvin Cuz – is a forty-six-second, arty, electronic interlude that dials up the quirk and leads us seamlessly into Silver Lux Holiday which is like The Velvet Underground and Pavement collaborating on a cover version of a song by Steve Miller.
The last track, Sammo, is the weirdest moment so far and at 04:19 makes up a large portion of the EP. At first, it sounds like a patchwork of found sounds held together – but only ever so slightly – by the occasional breakbeat. Eventually, it gets much more song-like in structure and evolves into what can almost be described as an electro-banger – something that Crystal Castles might’ve been proud of – before then taking another left turn and morphing into a sombre piano piece as it comes to its end.
Pacific Ragdoll is quite the journey. Unlike one we’ve ever taken before. We’d highly recommend going on it.
Written by Kinda Grizzly
