Shooting At Unarmed Men Triptych by: Liam Tracey Tue:11-Dec-07 Label: Too Pure Year: 2007 WB rating 38 out of 100

If the title of Shooting at Unarmed Men’s second album Yes Tinnitus didn’t warn you to the group’s sound already then look out because their third instalment, Triptych is as loud as they come and will certainly reaffirm the promise of their last record. The side project of Jon Chapple (ex-Mclusky), Triptych is the third album under the SAUM moniker and is the first made in Australia with an Australian line-up including Richard Brain (bass) and Chris Drane (drums). Members and titles aside, the album itself is an almost painfully frantic creation that demonstrates the band’s desire to produce records quickly, resulting in a hurried sound that hardly warrants the gorgeous tri-fold cover.

The production of Triptych is a concept within itself. SAUM have created somewhat of a new format whereby the average length album extends over three discs. While multiple disc recordings have been tried countless times, Triptych is more reminiscent of three individual EPs. This concept may have seemed an original and arty idea to the band, but there are levels on which the concept falls down. The listener will likely be annoyed by having to place three discs into their stereo separately, especially only after 11 minutes of the first, only to hear what equates to one normal length album. Additionally, the first and shortest disc is also the harshest and may even deter listeners from switching to the next.

The second Triptych disc introduces longer – but just as heavy – songs and the third limply provides as much of a dynamic reprieve as SAUM can muster: rampant guitar riffs and thumping drums resinate dark punk and heavy rock. On one hand, the instrumentation on the record is powerful and reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age or Motorhead, but on the other, Chapple’s vocals are abrasive and often painful to hear, especially when his accentuated Welsh accent resorts to simply yelling.

On top of the raw rock dominance of Triptych, SAUM have included some genuinely bizarre moments. ‘Full Proof Plan for Successful Living’ is a combination of Dr Who sound effects and Chapple’s muttering, creating a strangely epic sci-fi piece, both confusing and completely unnecessary. The final hidden track is equally as strange a moment, as the style completely transforms into a pop rock tune, as though the Violent Femmes were invading a Queens of the Stone Age recording.

SAUM now base themselves in Melbourne and the three-piece have playing gigs relentlessly to form a fanbase. This is much to their credit because the album undoubtedly evokes the live energy they’ve been crafting on stage, but as a listener you get the sense that only at gigs can it be understandable why such music is being made.