Entertainment
Gender
aDistant Sounds/Stickfigure
originally published May 7, 2008
Gender, the first full-length album from Athens band Entertainment, is a dark, dance-y amalgamation of all things '80s. The band melds post-punk, new wave, goth-rock and pop into something that sounds as if Bauhaus, Joy Division, (very early) U2, and Chrome were having an orgy.
The listener is launched into a frenzied world of haunting rhythms and psychedelic harmonies as echoing vocals intone sinister promises. Though the melodies on the album are sparse and the instrumentation minimal, the macabre arrangements and powerful percussion make Gender quite an effective album. "Romance in a Rain" is probably the least upbeat number on the record, but it's the most engaging as it utilizes thudding drum and bass combos with dissonant synths and percussion that rise and fall throughout the song. "A Seduction Walks" is another gem that's a little more upbeat and sounds the most like a lost Virgin Prunes song.
Overall, the album certainly conveys the sense of what it was to be making post-punk music in that era. Since releasing a string of 7" and 12" singles, the band has been bewitching audiences with their amazing live shows and this latest album is an aural treat for those who have yet to experience Entertainment.
Entertainment plays Gordon's b-day party at the Caledonia on May 10.
Destroyer
Trouble in Dreams
Merge Records
originally published May 7, 2008
The last record I listened to by Dan Bejar's band Destroyer was Streethawk: The Seduction, which came out about eight years ago. The public's awareness of Destroyer has increased steadily since then, due not just to a series of acclaimed albums, but also because of Bejar's participation in the Canadian indie-rock supergroup The New Pornographers.
Somehow, I completely missed every single one of those Destroyer records, and every New Pornographers song that isn't in a video game or a TV commercial for an Arizona-based online university. Everything I read about Destroyer over the years led me to believe that it had changed significantly since Streethawk. I was pretty shocked, then, when I heard the new record and realized Destroyer sounds almost exactly like it did in 2001. That is, it still kind of sounds like a guy from The Frogs singing Bowie covers. Bejar has a high, somewhat reedy voice that tends to dramatically lilt upward at the end of a phrase before quickly fading out on a final, low-key note. Toss in a distinctive, not-stereotypically-Canadian accent and pretentious singer-songwriter inflections, and you've almost got a vocal dead-ringer for one of the Flemion brothers.
Bejar's obviously a hell of a lot more serious than The Frogs, but his songs are still pretty damn hilarious. Some of that hilarity is intentional, but a lot of it might not be. His literary lyrics are often overwrought, full of strained or simply nonsensical metaphors. Bejar plays it so straight, though, and the music is so well-written and accomplished that I'm pretty sure Trouble in Dreams isn't supposed to be comedy, at least not entirely. Still, it makes me laugh, and I don't think it's condescending or belittling laughter. It's like Ween in that regard, but less scatological. It's also catchier than a Ween record, and it's that knack for melody and memorable pop hooks that makes Bejar worth listening to, whether he's being sincere or not.
Glowworm
The Coachlight Woods
Post Dog Productions
originally published May 7, 2008
Following up Pacific UV's still awesome self-titled debut was hard enough for Pacific UV, and this year's Longplay2 had enough shivery moments to come close. Now Glowworm, a duo affiliated with the former Athenians (we miss you), drops The Coachlight Woods.
While it has no chance of hitting Pacific UV's sweet spots, the more intimate post-rock employed here has its share of highlights. As a duo Glowworm has difficulty reaching the sheer majesty that Pacific UV tosses off so effortlessly, but thankfully Kevin Davis and Jesse Robert W. aim lower. "Lux" rides a Múm glitch vibe alongside the usual mournfully effective cello. "Cracks in the Desert Sea of St. George" comes closest to matching the cinematic grandeur of Pacific UV with swirls of keyboards within cascades of epic rising guitar like a more windswept Explosions in the Sky. "Lith," the record's only misstep, breaks the flow with a little too manic a pace, with more of a math-rock feel before the strings attempt to rescue the song. The last two and a half minutes of closer "Glow Scraped from the Earth" elevate the album to badassness, drifting off and out with calmly, perfectly distorted guitar and some gorgeous grit.
For those who aren't yet tired of post-rock in general, and fans of Pacific UV in particular, The Coachlight Woods should already be on your wish list.
The Kooks
Konk
Astralwerks
originally published May 7, 2008
A couple of years ago, this precocious British outfit arrived and instantly turned heads with a debut that burst with uncanny pop aptitude and crisp indie rock. On this follow-up, not much has changed in their Kinks- and Beatles-informed musical vocabulary. Admittedly, as one of the many young bands openly mining the British Invasion, they do little to further the dialogue of rock. Moreover, some of their tendencies - like the occasional dip into jammy reggae-rock (“Gap”) - could even be called questionable.
But hell if a good melody don’t save the day every time, and likeable hooks are what they pack in spades. Actually, with greater consistency than its predecessor, Konk is more infectious than the herp. There is something impressively immediate about The Kooks' roseate songwriting. It sparkles with verve and is sometimes even capable of pop perfection. The music’s bearing may be easy-breezy, but the melodycraft at work here is tight and razor-sharp. Though the album sort of drags in the middle like an overfed dachshund, the opening trifecta - the lovely sways of “See the Sun,” the precise pep of “Always Where I Need to Be” and the galloping innocence of “Mr. Maker” - is sterling evidence of their undeniable pop faculty.
The record sometimes overdoes the cute, but it’s just so unbelievably catchy and juiced with spirit that it’s pretty difficult to dislike. Must. Play. Again. Damn them.
Animal Collective
Water Curses
Domino Records
originally published May 7, 2008
Even though Animal Collective peaked four or five years ago, it's successfully cultivated a lengthy and impressive streak of really good records and EPs since then. It's a shock and a shame, then, that the Water Curses EP is so underwhelming.
Animal Collective has never been the type to release scraps, but Water Curses feels like the uninspired leftovers from the Strawberry Jam session. The title track comes off as a trial run of Strawberry Jam's excellent single "Peacebone." It's kinetic and kaleidoscopic (a word I hate to use, but that genuinely makes sense with Animal Collective), but in ways we've already heard multiple times over by now. It's an unengaging slice of paint-by-numbers Animal Collective, and definitely not a strong enough song to build an EP around. "Cobwebs" and "Seal Eyeing," meanwhile, both float listlessly by, not unpleasantly, but also not remotely memorably.
Most distressing, though, is the second song, "Street Flash," which comes really close to being great. It's unusually restrained for the first few minutes, relying primarily on a pulsating guitar riff and Panda Bear's vocal approximation of the ghost of Brian Wilson. He eventually hands the microphone over to Avey Tare, who sounds a lot like David Baker from those early Mercuy Rev records, but with little concept of pitch or tonality. Gradually he quits singing and resorts to that high-pitched goblin screeching he does on about 200 other songs, and all the subtlety and nascent beauty of the song is shattered.
It reinforces the notion that Animal Collective, once so unique and exciting, has started to stagnate, and in its own way, is becoming as predictable as AC/DC. That's not a problem when the songs are as good as they were on Feels and Strawberry Jam, but with Water Curses, that material isn't strong enough to make up for the stylistic monotony.
Thee Oh Sees
The Master’s Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In
Tomlab
originally published May 7, 2008
That particular corner in rock and roll, where primitive and pulpy intersect, is where you’ll find San Francisco band Thee Oh Sees doing its dealing. Formed from the trashy detritus of American rock music, its bag is a deliciously seedy brew of surf, psych, garage, pop and rockabilly. It’s a playfully dark aesthetic that falls somewhere between a flirty Gun Club and a sassed-up Cramps.
Sonically, the album is shawled in the warm, heady vibration of thick reverb and propelled by rocky, stomping beats. Underneath the echoing layers and slightly crazed execution are some decidedly precious gestures like boy/girl vocals and ‘60s melodic tendencies. Though kitsch and nostalgia also swim around in this soup, things stop short of becoming too twee.
The sound is caked with enough murky, atmospheric washes to give it an ominous elusiveness in spite of its openly inviting gait. “Block of Ice” is a hiccupping noir-pop gem, “Ghost in the Trees” is simmering surf-rock with maniacal attitude, and the title track is what a good pop song sounds like when it’s being drowned in the bathwater of psych and garage. The heart of the album’s schema is the tension between romping fun and cartoonish danger. The results? One snappy garage flower.
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