Cookie Tongue - Orphan Arms

Past the massive stone walls of the Gormenghast castle, out through the ornately decorated gates, keep following the path to the inviting glade. There on a small hill, trees towering in a circular pattern, a small group of musicians gather. The sounds about to be played have been outlawed, sparking the consciousness is something the collectors can not condone. Having people think, and the most heinous crime, being creative, undermines the structure of the current state. These thoughts hide in unspoken corners as dusk slips away unnoticed, a fire beings to take long lasting form. The back flaps are opened on a horse drawn covered wagon. A vibrantly dressed player turns and outward waving one hand down as the other begins manipulation of a small traveling piano. The fanfare has begun for the night.

Cookie Tongue is not of this realm. Current music trends have paved over their world. Orphan Arms reaches out, grabs a hand a pulls us to hear. Drawing listeners through the structures minds have created. Someone singing, a banjo playing, drums made from skins, these things have been forgotten. Rhythms gain intensity, Cookie Tongue plays with a cyclic fever, a wax and wain faster then the cycle of the moon above. "When your dancing shadows reign, we are the colors tonight - When your dancing out of light, we are the colors tonight". A song to make your "Rubber Hard Thumb". These words ring in listener's thoughts through the night. Bodies swaying to the musical sparks, the unencumbered glow with creativity and delight.

Orphan Arms holds moments of good spirited fun, then squeezing harder to free subdued introspection. The backing drum always hinting to Native America, a connection bridging physical and spiritual. Stringed instruments surfacing passed down genetic memories of folk songs across Europe, Asia and Africa. The depth of the night is tethered by the unpredictable beauty of each and every song.

Released last year on compact disc, still available from Cookie Tongue's bandcamp page. Orphan Arms has been re-released on cassette by the super eclectic label Eh? Records. You can order a copy from Eh? or straight from Cookie Tongue. The closest and best comparison i could make for Cookie Tongue is another album with similar beauty, Where Snakes & Seers Go by Laughing Eye Weeping Eye. Not the same in sound only in free spirit.





Links
Public Eyesore / Eh? site
Cookie Tongue - bandcamp - facebook