pitchforge: 11月 2010

2010年11月29日星期一

No Age - Weirdo Rippers (iTunes Version)

“Art meets punk” pretty much sums up the core of Weirdo Rippers, the debut by lo-fi drum/guitar duo No Age, clocking in at barely 30 minutes total and taking the listener both back in time and a few steps into the future. Drummer/singer Dean Spunt and guitarist Randy Randall came of age in the L.A. alt-art and skatepunk scenes, and No Age evoke both the post-punk art sounds of England’s Wire, and all those unheard of, late ‘70s garage punk bands (on both sides of the pond) who issued one great single and then disappeared. Fantastically fuzzy guitar, incendiary drums, and unbridled, raw energy make two-minute gems like “Boy Void” and “My Life’s Alright Without You” stay with the listener long after they’ve been heard. An enchanting guitar chord progression towards the end of “Neck Escaper” nearly eclipses the track’s first half of psychedelic lullaby, leaving you wishing for two minutes more. “Everybody’s Down” starts out all vocals and nervous guitar, and when Spunt’s drums come crashing in, that old kinetic, punk-rock twitch sets in and it’s just over too soon. Ambient tracks like “Dead Plane” and “Sun Spots” offer up surprise moments of beauty.

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Wavves - Wavvves (Bonus Track Version) (iTunes Version)

Nathan Williams is a SoCal kid with a sense of humor matching his talent: embedding a third “v” into his band name for album No. 2’s title, he also repeats a few song titles (just the titles) from his months-old debut, just to confuse us. Sheer pop exuberance, buried or not, drives the teen angst-filled “No Hope Kids,” and “So Bored” shares all the potential of the finest Pavement song, with a layer or two of added murk. The last half of “Gun In the Sun” features solid garage band guitar riffs butting up against a distortion-encrusted wall of noise, while “Beach Demon” yields a great repeated, buzz saw guitar at the end. “Weed Demon” is almost pretty, shimmering in its nakedness: stripped of layers of grime, the glassy ooh-aah vocals and strummed guitars reveal Williams’ pure pop heart. You’ll want to pogo in the basement with “California Goths” and “To the Dregs” turned up to 10. And as if that weren’t enough, this iTunes version includes the self-titled single from the debut album, “Wavves,” which almost tops “No Hope Kids” and “So Bored” in the must-have department. It’s a tough call.

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Battles - EP C/B EP (iTunes Version)

Battles is a quartet comprised of drummer John Stanier of Helmet and Tomahawk, guitarist/keyboardist Ian Williams of Don Caballero and Storm & Stress, guitarist David Konopka of Lynx, and avant solo musician Tyondai Braxton. All members bring their honed-in angular math skills of past glory to Battles. The Tras and EP C EPs were both released in June 2004 on Cold Sweat and Monitor respectively. The B EP followed on Dim Mak in September 2004. The Atlas EP followed in early 2007, followed in turn by the band's proper full-length debut, Mirrored, in May 2007.

B+T
UW
HI/LO
IPT-2
TRAS 2
FANTASY
SZ2
TRAS 3
IPT 2
BTTLS
DANCE
TRAS

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Deerhunter – Microcastle (iTunes Version)

Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox has established himself as a critical part of the indie-rock scene. His music is unpredictable and sometimes challenging, but even in his most experimental moments there is a vulnerable human-ness that makes it accessible. Microcastle puts Cox and his band firmly on the path to producing cohesive songs with beginnings, middles and ends, and they’re not just songs with all the right parts; they’re astoundingly accessible and memorable to boot. Guitarist Lockett Pundt’s contributions — on vocals as well — are a real plus, and from the lulling “Agoraphobia” to the ‘60s pop charm of “Little Kids” and “Saved by Old Times,” Microcastle offers plenty of well above-average indie pop. Cotton-candy shoegazer “Never Stops” has a sad, lyrical feel, and “Calvary Scars” and “Activa” are wrapped in the ambient twinkle of Cox’s solo work as Atlas Sound. The gloriously dreamy “Neither of Us, Uncertainly,” and the Yo La Tengo-ish “Nothing Ever Happened” are strong contenders for Best of Show, but we give the award to the purely Deerhunter “Microcastle” which fools us all for the first two minutes with its airy, twee weightlessness before morphing into a sonic tsunami.