Silk Flowers

People of a certain musical persuasion may remember first hearing Joy Division, and making an earnest effort to mimic Ian Curtis when circumstances allowed: in the car, the shower, etc., one might lower one’s voice a couple octaves, with a tucked-in chin looking a lot like a fat toad. No one could hear you; it was all good. Aviram Cohen of Brooklyn’s Silk Flowers may or may not go through a similar visual metamorphosis, and when he sings, one wonders. But by album’s end, the powerful instrumentals (especially the glitchy “Night Shades”), the haunting, Joy Division-like arrangements (especially “Sand” and “Birds of Passion”), and even the freaky if uneven vocal effort should convince you there is something bizarrely, mysteriously right here. A remnant of early industrial music also permeates (“Cheap Shot”), and a frail, sort of vulnerable melancholy (“In This Place”) softens the edge. Some may feel these alchemists of dark, brooding music should consider making an instrumental recording, and while that might result in a fantastic collection of music, Cohen’s contributions are not to be written off, even if they are not easily understood.