Badge Époque Ensemble: Self Help

Richard Gehr on December 11, 2020
Badge Époque Ensemble: Self Help

Toronto’s Badge Époque Ensemble sound sexy, ecstatic, and spooky by turns on their own not-so-difficult second album, Self Help (Telephone Explosion). In fact, they sound heady as heck during diverse and unembellished live performances ranging from the laid-back psych-jazz of “Sing a Silent Gospel” to extended cratedig soundscape “Birds Fly Through Ancient Ruins.” If anything, they recapture the experimental freak-lounge spirit of Sopwith Camel’s nearly forgotten The Miraculous Hump Returns From the Moon—minus that 1973 gem’s vaudeville and raga-rock. Led by keyboardist Maximilian Turnbull, Badge Époque generates its own reality through smoky grooves and lyrics like “nigh must be my lofted peak/ Or else a sacred landfill.”