3 out of 5

Label: VHF Records

Produced by: Mike Gangloff (recorded by)

VHF mainstay Mike Gangloff teams his fiddle with part of Elkhorn, guitarist Jesse Sheppard, and cellist Kaily Schenker for Universal Light’s self-titled album, originally self-released in small quantities and now represented by VHF Records.

Gangloff and Elkhorn have teamed up recently; Kaily played on Mike’s last VHF album; while I’ve often been pleased with how Gangloff has brought a unique identity to each of his recordings / projects, the trio’s output comes across as more of a side project for everyone: its sound is somewhere between things we’ve heard from each of these players before. Gangloff’s recording is also kind of flat, though perhaps that’s Joe DeJarnette mix – Schenker’s cello, often taking up a sort of drone low-end, is pretty hard to pick out here, and both the fiddle and guitar lack edge. Add this to the relative familiarity of the sound (amongst other Gangloff / Elkhorn-related works), and it’s hard to assess Universal Light fully on their own merits, and not in comparison to peers.

It probably doesn’t help that opener Lullaby>Summer Field is the worst offender of this “I feel like I’ve heard this before…” sensation, landing somewhere between the traditional sound of Mike’s pairing with Elkhorn and the slow drawl of his previous solo release. It’s definitely a pretty song, with the recording picking up some vague field ambience that helps its pastoral vibes, just, again, I almost thought this was a cover.

The more broken up, 3- or 4-part march of Triode>Freedom and Freedom>Universal Blues is a lot more interesting, straying from the flowing playing style of the aforementioned albums / bands and providing a reason to hear this as a band, with its members playing off of one another – vignettes that are ever-so slightly edged, linking from one to the next. The recording, though, is still fairly flat, and doesn’t emphasize the edges enough, nor is the trio really leaning into this – it eventually does balance out into familiarity once more.

Closer ‘The Squirrel is a Pretty Thing’ is… puzzling. Schenker lends their flat vocals to this traditional tune, and the whole thing gets played as drone, though the media copy calls it “epic.” Once you’re kind of adjusted to its tone – I think Schenker’s vocals are pretty unexpected – it’s an interesting work that leans in to the (to me) sad undertones of other versions you may have heard, but I think being more concise here may have helped: the singing throws off the drone-ness, though it’s also not an aurally busy enough something to merit its length.

Most of the above sounds negative; it’s more that you have seasoned players who’ve delivered a wealth of interesting and nuanced material, and bringing them together… sounds pretty normal. These essentially come across as B-sides to recent Gangloff / Elkhorn projects. Not a bad thing at all, but I hope Universal Light is able to develop more of their own identity on any potential followups.