Genre: Experimental rock/ambient rock
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I was emailed a review request for this from a guy named Tim in Lesser Royalty. Tim explained that this was a studio only band and kind of a small project. It’s definitely the best all around produced record that I’ve reviewed yet. I haven’t ever reviewed something from this genre, or a record with so many different instruments like this one has. The recording is impeccable. The songs on the record are quite short (7 of the 11 songs are under 2 minutes), and that’s my only real complaint. It’s a real spacey album with lots of reverb and strange, lingering vocals that when picked up sound exactly like Michael Stipe (try the end of “The Thaw”). Just the nature of this record in how it is structured and flows reminds me of the Magnetic Fields. Not a bad comparison.
The way that the percussion is used (sometimes there isn’t any) is not your average drum kit sound. What I mean is that a lot of the percussion is not conventionally used. In general, about half the songs are straightforward rock (or have some part that is), and the other half are these kind of slow, wide ballads. However, when you break them down you hear all sorts of things that you ordinarily wouldn’t recognize if you weren’t paying close attention. This album was recorded by three guys in Chicago in February 2008. Tim said they went in there with, as he called it, an “empty palette”, and ended up with this in one month. That is extremely impressive. It gets a 9 because of the variety of the songs, texture, instrument usage, recording quality, and the fact that every bit of this was done in a month. Like I said earlier, the only complaint I have is the length. Favorite tracks are “Double Movie Girl”, “The Thaw”, “Continued Action”, and “Then We Bundled.” Hopefully they’ll record again.
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Gave this a listen and agree that there's some great stuff here. My standouts are John Lockes and Summer Dresses. Many of the tracks could be longer, but the production here is fantastic.
Pretty amazing how every song can sound so entirely unique…esp. given the time frame!