War On Torpor
Is that an organ? I should know what that squeaky instrument
is but I can’t place it. So far this just sounds like later Man Or Astoman? to me.
Still with some surfing and some retro robots but also a little bit of “hey,
look…we can be ARTISTS”. There’s a banjo thing coming in halfway through that adds
a nice layer to the melody. Is it a banjo? If I can’t think of any instruments
I’m going to have a really hard time with this instrumental album. I’m grateful
that there are no gratuitous guitar solos. Yet. This song is sure taking me on
a journey – I think we just hit China. SURF CHINA, ROBOTS!
Horripilation
No, not yet. I’m listening to a goddamn add for chemo.
Should’ve just downloaded a leak from a rad site like Paper St. Leak Co. but I
was too impatient.
Horripilation
For reals this time. Pretty good portmanteau for a title, I
guess. If it weren’t for the chemo ad I’d probably appreciate the minimal
guitar intro more after the big finale of the world-traveling surf song. I really
hate the style of drumming on this song and for some reason every instrumental
(especially surf) band has it on at least a few songs. I blame The Ventures.
The little tinkling piano keys were kind of nice, especially the way they play
off of both sides of my head but they didn’t really shine until the horns came
in and gave them an accent. Once that happened I could almost forget about the
drums. IT’S GETTING SO QUIET, IS THIS THE HORROR? I wish the guitar monster had
stayed under the bed. The rest of this song was shaping up really nicely. The
strong melody of the guitar kind of made me tune out.
Why did I just get a FedEx signature required alert?
How the heck long is this song? 10 ½ minutes might be a
little too long. Somewhere in the last quarter of the song a duck starts
farting and all the frogs laugh at it. This went from slightly ominous to swamp
slapstick.
A Murder of Thoughts
They sure are trying to be tough with these song titles. If
there’s a joke I’m not getting it so I have to assume they’re serious because I
HAVE THE BEST SENSE OF HUMOR EVER. Is every song going to start with one sound
and then gradually add new pieces until it’s a big dance party? This one seems
to be going that way. There’s a tiny cowboy riding the melody of this one and I
would rather he lope along through the song on his own but already there’s a
big drum edging in. By the end I predict at least eight new instruments. This
band sure seems like a “not less than 10” kind of gang. It wasn’t 10. I was
wrong. I’m glad.
Bound
This reminds me of something but I can’t think of what. This
is the best live review ever written. “I can’t place that instrument.” “I can’t
think of what this reminds me of.” “This is kind of like that thing that I did
once but can’t describe.” Maybe it reminds me of the intro to a late-90s
alternative rock hit starring Third Eye Everclear. WHAT IS HAPPENING There’s a
terrible siren noise halfway through that is really messing up the song for me.
The parts without the ELECTRIC GUITAR, BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT YOU PLAY WHEN YOU
ROCK are actually really pleasant. The guitar is so-so, and the siren is
terrible. The ending was stupid too. Sounded like ZZ Top going to the bathroom.
And Boundless
Oh good, this song starts where the last one ended. These
are not my two favorite songs in the world. Sounds like a car alarm is going
off through the whole first two minutes. And it’s back. TURN OFF YOUR ALARM I’m
tuning out until that happens. At some point in the last four minutes it
happened but now there’s just a bunch of stupid cymbal crashes and THE SIREN FROM
THE LAST SONG IS BACK. Thank god it’s finally over.
Her Eyes On The Horizon
This can only win me over. There’s a little bit of cowboy in
this song. All the saxophones and clarinets are doing their best impression of
that one free jazz album they heard that one time. The rest of the song is
fine. Just fine.
As Far As The Eye Can See
I hear a real car alarm right now. Or a siren. Either way,
it fits better with the music than the intentional one did on “And Boundless”.
I wish the song titles told a story instead of being loosely related. I like
the upbeat on this song – I needed something a little happy and I always feel
happy when I hear an upbeat. It’s why I’m so tolerant of ska. Unfortunately,
the upbeat drops off partway through for laser crickets to sing their song. It’s
not a great song, and that’s probably why laser crickets are almost extinct.
The drum coming back in is working so well- HEY! They interrupted the one drum
part I was really enjoying. Playing random notes on the guitar (I believe the
technical term is “noodling”) is really starting to get to me. I guess when you
make a song with no words last almost 10 minutes you have to fill the time with
something. I would have preferred twice as many two or three minute songs.
Shlomo’s Son
This stupid chemo ad. Every single song.
Shlomo’s Son
Oh my god! A song that starts differently from all the
others! It’s still doing the (at this point) stock intro with just one-ish
instrument that will build in time to many but the piano backed by whatever
that bass sound is was a really nice change of pace. Hey, did you know that you
can play a snare drum with wire brushes? Because Do Make Say Crepes or whatever
their name is does. It’s not the worst thing to want to make sure the world
knows. Not like wanting to tell everyone you have a car alarm and know how to
use it. Plus, this song was less than four minutes long which is much better. I
love a good 10 or 15-minute song but you have to have a reason to go that long
and so far I don’t feel like this band has one.
Return, Return Again
This song basically opens with an electric noodling solo so
by default it’s the worst one on the album. || I don’t mind droning if it’s
lower-pitched and there’s plenty of that here. This is a reasonable closer, it
just shouldn’t have been seven minutes long.
Rating: Two car alarms out of five. I don’t know why I would
ever listen to this when Man or Astroman? exists, followed closely by basically
every instrumental light rock band from The Ventures to Friends of Dean
Martinez. Which is a super obscure reference but is the album this one should
have been (https://www.subpop.com/releases/friends_of_dean_martinez/the_shadow_of_your_smile).
Even the Sub Pop newsgroup thinks so - “Eerie,
Western-tinged instrumental lounge music that makes you pine for a patch of
desert and a big ol’ martini.” – Sub Pop newsgroup
Download links:
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