|
|
|
| |
|
|
Rafter
|
Animal Feelings
|
Asthmatic Kitty
|
ESM Rating: 9/10 |
| |
|
I’d like to have a first name cool enough to function
as my stage persona. But my parents did not become “one with child” in the loft
of a California commune, so that is a fair trade-off. Rafter Roberts is the
type of guy who’s cunningly cool with all of his being. He charges all things
interesting in life, and will probably selectively block out anything he
doesn’t find encouraging in the process. He’s the seven-year-old second coming-style
leader of a musical Jesus Camp,
paying his dues and building his empire on the sweat and angst of promises.
Roberts literally built his studio by promising away future recording time to
the likes of every cool band you have ever heard of. That’s ambition.
Peter Frampton could suck half of the energy necessary
to power his Talk Box from the voice synth on Animal Feelings’ opener “No
Fucking Around” — but he would still fall short of matching Rafter’s initial punch. Rafter follows everything good with something else better. I know this sounds a bit
uneducated and technically bland, but I’m both of those particular things, so
back off. I do know this: I am one of the first people to internally criticize
music nerds that I feel jealousy towards because of their endless knowledge
about Joy Division. Rafter is different. As a performer, chic dress and
aforementioned ambition fall by the wayside where they are later eaten by the
radical flamboyances he throws up onstage and on record.
Animal
Feelings is a tight success, and I
will gladly sit right here and listen to it while the Disco Biscuits play a
very expensive show down the street. A) Because I can’t have my energy sucked
from my body by the crystals that will be in the building, and B) because I‘d
rather save my $45 and spend a much smaller amount to see Rafter down the road.
By William Port Whales
|
|
|
| Harlem |
Hippies
|
| Matador |
| ESM Rating: 8/10 |
| |
|
|
Garage rockers Harlem make what could be called bubblegum pop, if that bubble gum is dropped, stepped
on, and dragged through grimy cigarette butts and booze before being picked up
and chewed on again. On this second effort from the Austin, TX, trio, they keep
the formula simple: dirty, fuzzed-out, bluesy garage rock with a loud/quiet/loud
approach in the vein of the Pixies, who indeed created their own scuzzy version
of pop music.
Harlem’s new release, hilariously entitled Hippies, features twangy, fuzzy guitars that
jangle along with high-hat cymbal blasts and muffled vocals, perfectly
indicative of the classic garage genre of rock. Sounding like it could easily
have been recorded any time over the last 50 years — Harlem’s dirtbag lyrical subject matter notwithstanding — Hippies is a study in all of the elements
that make rock ‘n’ roll still relevant and fun. Tracks that stand out among the 16 on the album include “Spray
Paint,” “Cloud Pleaser,” “Pissed,” and “Poolside.” And if you’re a fan of
Pavement, The Castaways, Black Lips, The Soft Pack, or any other garage rock
band too innumerable to list, then you’ll more than likely find a few tracks to
enjoy on Hippies.
Despite being overdone repeatedly, there’s not much
to criticize with Harlem’s brand of
garage rock, as Hippies is as
enjoyable as many of its historical and contemporary counterparts, lending
validity to the band’s efforts. Garage rock will always have its place, and will
always sound new to fresh-faced hipster kids who call it whatever they want,
but it’s all pop music. Some forms are just a lesser kind of evil. By
Pete Viele |
|
| Tunng |
…And Then We Saw Land
|
| Thrill Jockey |
| ESM Rating: 7/10 |
| |
|
|
If rusting pieces of Scottish farm equipment —
combines, old grain blades, pick-up trucks, plows, some chicken wire, a few
rakes, and a grain silo — slid close together, away from the eyes and
ears of humans, they would sound in the swaying wind like the latest release
from the ever-changing Tunng. …And Then We Saw Land holds
a lot of worn-out memories and experiences within its walls — experiences
and actions of the past shared by Tunng’s new lineup, one without the original founder Sam Gender.
Sticking in the shadows like a proud old farmer who
had sown his seed, Gender simply helped this group come into their own by
oiling different machines with his occasional appearance onstage, until stepping
aside completely to let his product fully colonize. Alongside founding member
Mike Lindsay, the London-based lineup of Phil Winter (electronics and samples),
Martin Smith (exotic percussion and the occasional clarinet), Ashley Bates
(banjos and guitars), and Becky Jacobs (harmony vocals and melodica) form the
new Tunng — a stage-
and studio-ready Tunng.
This album owes much credit to the vocal climb of
Jacobs. Her ability stands above Lindsay, and she often grips this album as her
own. It seems rare that such a communal relationship would hold true through so
many sound and lineup changes, but it’s easy to get a sense of eternal
existence when you here …And Then We Saw
Land. Tunng may continue to collect the brilliant layered rust of
wisdom long into the future, allowing them to lay electronic tiles upon a
foundation of classic banjo and fearless sound experimentation in every niche
imaginable. By William Port Whales |
|
| Nice Nice |
Extra Wow
|
| Warp |
| ESM Rating: 8/10 |
| |
|
|
Extra Wow, the new LP from Portland’s experimental duo Nice Nice, lives up to its title, jamming
a little extra of the band’s unique blend of noise and rhythm into their
repertoire to form an incredibly interesting album. The mélange of sounds that
may at first listen seem to be a hodge-podge of noise genres are actually
carefully crafted in a manner that presents a flowing, sonic journey. From
their first single, “One Hit,” which hammers away with experimental noise-fuzz
in the vein of Liars, Deerhoof, or Oneida, to tracks like “A Vibration, A
Little Love” and “It’s Here” that lazily groove through more electro-friendly
territory similar to Four Tet or Caribou, it’s evident that Nice Nice have harnessed the sounds of experimentation over their
10 years as a band into a nearly perfect finished product.
As Extra Wow unfolds, Nice Nice display perfection
in their timing as the psychedelic explosions and droning reverbs slowly
dissipate into Eastern chimes, rhythmic drumming, and haunting vocalization,
all forming crazy sounds that touch on everything from punk, electro, and Krautrock
to dub and neo-primitive tunes. Nice
Nice’s artful fusion of these genres can be a bit spastic, but the work put
forth on Extra Wow is a blinding
representation of experimental music’s ability to create pop tunes from a
different angle — all while still appealing to a wide audience. By Pete Viele |
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
