Vague Plot - Crying in 9 (2024) [Hi-Res]

Vague Plot began as a post-pandemic weekly jam among Brooklyn music veterans Zachary Cale, Phil Jacob (Psychic Lines), Ben "Baby" Copperhead, Uriah Theriault, and John Studer - the latter two former members of the much-missed Woodsy Pride. Now a fully-fledged live band whose process is its medium as much as its instrumentation, Vague Plot’s debut album “Crying in 9” features music that was mostly composed while the proverbial tape was rolling.

Repetition is a key ingredient to Vague Plot’s approach to improvisation. The players listen more than they play, and each slowly builds on a central theme with admirable restraint. In lieu of any freakouts or huge leads, the band gently guides the listener into a hypnotic state before a well-placed turnaround or chord change reminds us that these guys are all songwriters first and foremost.

“Moto” starts rocking out of the gate before settling into a death blues that will appeal to fans of Cale’s earliest work. As an opener, the band sets its terms and stakes its claim in what I guess we might call free rock. Uriah’s mastery of the Telecaster (right channel) dovetails nicely with Zach’s vintage Jazzmaster, dusted off from his days with Illuminations (left channel). Phil’s saxophone-via-delay-pedal and keyboard work provides color while Ben and John keep the rhythm and low end tight. The orthogonal choogle of “Another Span Of Steps” glides in into the post-punk Western of “Backwards Dub” and by this point, I’m sold. The band achieves full-flight catharsis in “Cyclic” before coming down into the downer dirge of “Haunted Head”. The album concludes with "Windswept”, a piece that calls to mind Popul Vuh’s “Letzte Tage Letzte Nächte” as interpreted by a quintet of red-eyed Louisiana barflies. Which is not a bad description of Vague Plot overall.

I’ve been fortunate enough to catch both live performances that these guys have played to date, and can attest that “Crying in 9” does their live set justice and hints at what is to come.