Review of Squalus - The Great Fish

“This is what happens. It indicates the non-frenzied feeding of a large squalus – possibly Longimanus or Isurus glauca. Now… the enormous amount of tissue loss prevents any detailed analysis; however the attacking squalus must be considerably larger than any normal squalus found in these waters. Didn’t you get on a boat and check out these waters?”

While Giant Squid and Grayceon are on hold (Boooooooooo!) few of the members have formed Sqaulus, another nautical themed project (yaaaaaaaaaaaay!) and what makes this one unique is that the lyrics are entirely based on Peter Benchley’s Jaws novel.

Many will recognize the lyrics from the movie as Aaron Gregory gruffly recites famous lines uttered by Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfus and Roy Scheider, and they are played over a fuzzed out sort of early Mastodon-y /expected Giant Squid  post rock crumble with some cool psychedelic keyboards (and cello) thrown in as well. The end result is pretty cool and unique album that sits well along side the band members’ other projects.

The flow of the album follows the book/movie so I’m not spoiling anything here unless you have lived under a rock since 1974. There the initial attack, the town meeting, the autopsy, the tense USS Indianapolis story, shanty song and the climax (‘Smile you son of a bitch!’) are all here. Musically , the story is equally as well told with the album ebbing and flowing along with the story. From the languid opener “The Great Fish”, through  fuzzed out “Flesh, Bone and Rubber”, almost stoner rock jaunt of “Town Meeting”, haunting “Jack the Ripper”, thunderous “Eating Machine in the Pond”, downright creepy “The USS Indianapolis” and closer “He Ate the Light”, the album is engaging not just because of the story but the well executed, creative post rock/stoner rock metal delivers a unique backdrop that creates a perfect melding of story and music.

There have been few concept albums executed so perfectly and so uniquely. However, Squalus have taken a great story, added great music and it has resulted in a great album.