Monday, September 9
Sleatter-Kinney - One Beat
Some commendable qualities of the Portland, OR Ensemble Sleater-Kinney, pertaining to their new record, One Beat:
•Consistency: Sleater-Kinney have been out kicking the jams since 1995, and none of their six offerings to date represent an appreciable dip in quality. This year's model, at least in comparison to '99's All Hands On the Bad One, explores territory more similar to their early work (ie. the modern punk classic Dig Me Out, 1996): it's a bit noiser, a bit simpler ("one beat" = two chords), and a bit more rock'n'roll fun. That's not a good thing or a bad thing. Or it's both.
•Savvy: From their indie benchmark fashion sense to confusing perhaps-anthems like "Ballad of a Ladyman", S-K always seem to occupy precisely the right über-correct-yet-still-hip position vis-à-vis such complicated issues as sex & gender politics and rock & roll. Lyrically, the new record ranges from the touching tale of a repressed co-ed ("Prisstina") to the call to arms/call to the dancefloor "Step Aside" ("why don't you shake a tail for peace and love.") They even take on the events of a year ago yesterday, in the roiling, urgent "Far Away": "turn on the TV/watch the world explode in flames/and don't leave the house."
•Self-sufficiency: As announced by the titular tattoo on the first track, as it is soon augmented with propulsive, precisionist riffage from the band's dual-guitar frontline, S-K's long-standing arranging formula (intertwining guitar and vocal lines, backed by the formidable drumming of Ms. Janet Weiss) still reigns supreme. Despite instrumental embellishments from a couple guests - theremin from Janet's ex-husband/quasi-bandmate Sam Coomes and, most noticably, a killer new-wave synth line on "Oh!" (the album's catchiest tune) - the sonic palette of "One Beat" is overwhelmingly monolithic. And as amply demonstrated by their blistering set on Coney Island this summer, these arrangements are at least twice as effective in person as they are blasting from your car stereo. [hint: They're playing the Trocadero on October 19th.]
•Unassailability: I really can't say anything bad about Sleater-Kinney. For one thing, I can think of a handful of people on this campus who would probably beat me up. For another, as a fledging music critic, it would be rather gauche to malign the group that practically defines the phrase "critics darlings." (And, er, speaking of darlings; it's eminently noteworthy, and all too unusual, that I've gotten through this whole review without mentioning that Sleater-Kinney are all female.) So, despite the fact that their voices are still as grating as ever, and though they still offer too little variation from song to song and from album to album for my taste (though I do appreciate the effort, ladies), you'll notice the all-powerful rating appended to this review: a perfect ten, give or take one beat.
Future Bible Heroes - Eternal Youth
Praise be! Stephin Merritt, the patron saint of Swarthmore indie-rock, has returned! For his first proper release - lackluster soundtracks to seemingly nonexistent films don't count - since his magnum opus, the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs (required listening; I'll expect a five-page analysis by Monday), the St. Stephin has reunited with synth-guy Chris Ewen and MF chanteuse Claudia Gonson to grace us with a second installment of neo-synthpop from the Future Bible Heroes. To open the record, with the sweet-voiced Claudia as his mouthpiece (Merritt's baritone is absent this time around; she always got the good songs anyway), he spaketh thus: you know me/I take nothing seriously.
True enough, but in this case, Stephin's trademark frivolity (though not his wit) has been noticably toned down, making this perhaps the most "serious" work in his oeuvre. At least, as serious as a synth-pop record with green-skinned Hawaiian baby dolls on the cover can get. Ewen's arrangements are lush and complex - dare I say sophisticated? - and deserve at least as much attention as Merritt's impeccable melodies. The tunes, in turn, are for the most part fairly solemn. To boot, this is almost a concept record, with themes of immortality and the supernatural linking many of the songs (as well as an unhealthy obsession with the age seventeen.) As an additional unifying factor, six short but interesting instrumental tracks are interspersed throughout, previously unheard of in a Merritt release (again discounting that alleged soundtrack.)
Of course, it wouldn't be a Stephin Merritt album without a few inanely catchy pop ditties, and the exception that proves the (frankly, pretty much erroneous) rule about this being a serious record is also the album's centerpiece, and the principal reason why anyone should be interested in it all: the just plain super-fantastic "I'm a Vampire." This song combines all three of the record's themes, and has each of the three Heroes making their finest contributions - Ewen a swell bouncy rhythm track, Gonson one of her finest performances yet, and Merrit a top-notch melody (which you've probably heard me whistling around campus this week) and such self-promoting bon-mots as "blanche/with a bloodflow no-one can stanch/a blood flood, a blood avalanche/i'm a tidalwave of tarantulas." It's pop manna. Amen.
Some commendable qualities of the Portland, OR Ensemble Sleater-Kinney, pertaining to their new record, One Beat:
•Consistency: Sleater-Kinney have been out kicking the jams since 1995, and none of their six offerings to date represent an appreciable dip in quality. This year's model, at least in comparison to '99's All Hands On the Bad One, explores territory more similar to their early work (ie. the modern punk classic Dig Me Out, 1996): it's a bit noiser, a bit simpler ("one beat" = two chords), and a bit more rock'n'roll fun. That's not a good thing or a bad thing. Or it's both.
•Savvy: From their indie benchmark fashion sense to confusing perhaps-anthems like "Ballad of a Ladyman", S-K always seem to occupy precisely the right über-correct-yet-still-hip position vis-à-vis such complicated issues as sex & gender politics and rock & roll. Lyrically, the new record ranges from the touching tale of a repressed co-ed ("Prisstina") to the call to arms/call to the dancefloor "Step Aside" ("why don't you shake a tail for peace and love.") They even take on the events of a year ago yesterday, in the roiling, urgent "Far Away": "turn on the TV/watch the world explode in flames/and don't leave the house."
•Self-sufficiency: As announced by the titular tattoo on the first track, as it is soon augmented with propulsive, precisionist riffage from the band's dual-guitar frontline, S-K's long-standing arranging formula (intertwining guitar and vocal lines, backed by the formidable drumming of Ms. Janet Weiss) still reigns supreme. Despite instrumental embellishments from a couple guests - theremin from Janet's ex-husband/quasi-bandmate Sam Coomes and, most noticably, a killer new-wave synth line on "Oh!" (the album's catchiest tune) - the sonic palette of "One Beat" is overwhelmingly monolithic. And as amply demonstrated by their blistering set on Coney Island this summer, these arrangements are at least twice as effective in person as they are blasting from your car stereo. [hint: They're playing the Trocadero on October 19th.]
•Unassailability: I really can't say anything bad about Sleater-Kinney. For one thing, I can think of a handful of people on this campus who would probably beat me up. For another, as a fledging music critic, it would be rather gauche to malign the group that practically defines the phrase "critics darlings." (And, er, speaking of darlings; it's eminently noteworthy, and all too unusual, that I've gotten through this whole review without mentioning that Sleater-Kinney are all female.) So, despite the fact that their voices are still as grating as ever, and though they still offer too little variation from song to song and from album to album for my taste (though I do appreciate the effort, ladies), you'll notice the all-powerful rating appended to this review: a perfect ten, give or take one beat.
Future Bible Heroes - Eternal Youth
Praise be! Stephin Merritt, the patron saint of Swarthmore indie-rock, has returned! For his first proper release - lackluster soundtracks to seemingly nonexistent films don't count - since his magnum opus, the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs (required listening; I'll expect a five-page analysis by Monday), the St. Stephin has reunited with synth-guy Chris Ewen and MF chanteuse Claudia Gonson to grace us with a second installment of neo-synthpop from the Future Bible Heroes. To open the record, with the sweet-voiced Claudia as his mouthpiece (Merritt's baritone is absent this time around; she always got the good songs anyway), he spaketh thus: you know me/I take nothing seriously.
True enough, but in this case, Stephin's trademark frivolity (though not his wit) has been noticably toned down, making this perhaps the most "serious" work in his oeuvre. At least, as serious as a synth-pop record with green-skinned Hawaiian baby dolls on the cover can get. Ewen's arrangements are lush and complex - dare I say sophisticated? - and deserve at least as much attention as Merritt's impeccable melodies. The tunes, in turn, are for the most part fairly solemn. To boot, this is almost a concept record, with themes of immortality and the supernatural linking many of the songs (as well as an unhealthy obsession with the age seventeen.) As an additional unifying factor, six short but interesting instrumental tracks are interspersed throughout, previously unheard of in a Merritt release (again discounting that alleged soundtrack.)
Of course, it wouldn't be a Stephin Merritt album without a few inanely catchy pop ditties, and the exception that proves the (frankly, pretty much erroneous) rule about this being a serious record is also the album's centerpiece, and the principal reason why anyone should be interested in it all: the just plain super-fantastic "I'm a Vampire." This song combines all three of the record's themes, and has each of the three Heroes making their finest contributions - Ewen a swell bouncy rhythm track, Gonson one of her finest performances yet, and Merrit a top-notch melody (which you've probably heard me whistling around campus this week) and such self-promoting bon-mots as "blanche/with a bloodflow no-one can stanch/a blood flood, a blood avalanche/i'm a tidalwave of tarantulas." It's pop manna. Amen.
