Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
The Lickets are an American experimental folk music group based in San Francisco. As of April 2009 the group centers around multi-instrumentalists; Lena Buell, Mitch Greer and Rachel Smith. The style is noted for being difficult to describe, and often critical focus falls on attempts to define the compositional style.
History
The Lickets have been elusive, while maintaining a steady presence on independent radio and media outside of the mainstream. Even in communication with the press, their motives remain unclear, as detailed in a review in Skyscraper: "it was almost impossible to get a lead on where they came from or who they were," as well as in a review in the Wire: "From the Max Ernst-style Merz of the cover of Fake Universe Man to the International Corporation's zoned out PR sheet, which comes under the guise of a big business communique complete with analysis detailing the temporal point-origin of each vertical stratum of the CD in relation to its position along the recording's time line. It's evident The Lickets are not some tepidly traditional collective." A short film has been made for Journey In Caldecott, but their work is open for visual interpretation. Ed Pinsent suggested about the music: "Construct your own visuals, or use those which have been provided for you."
Commentary
The collective is described as a "transcendental mini-orchestra", and their work has been called "empyrean, luminously beautiful", "Haunting, eerie, and altogether unique", and "[t]ruly something magical. Its bizarre classical music that's repetitious and hypnotic in the way that Phillip Glass can sometimes be. Its also occasionally elevating. It feels like music made by magical lord of the rings elves and its worth listening to. Among other things, it is deeply enchanting." The Fly described them as "Think following the Pied Piper in 2022 across all lands and gradually building up a band of all sounds with an aim to drive out the mechanical rats." made with "hypnotic, aggressively thrusting streams of acoustic guitars, whispered vocals, vibes, and cellos."The ensemble fits somewhat and has been included in the emergent critical and curatorial efforts of projects like that of Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone, yet the style also fits in the compositional and performance context of both experimental folk and avant garde jazz movements of the late 1960s, particularly those of John and Alice Coltrane, and incorporates elements that are hypnotic and similar to that of Balinese trance music.