Dinosaur Jr.- I Bet On Sky (Jagjaguwar, 2012)
The opening notes threw me a bit off-balance. I’ve grown to expect Dinosaur Jr. records to open with giant washes of guitar, going full-throttle from the very first second, but this is a bit different. There’s certainly guitar, but it’s a rapid-fire strum that floats over a backing of percussion and synthesized strings. It’s almost, dare I say… Restrained. In fact, it wasn’t until J Mascis’ vocal kicked in that I was certain I’d put on the right record.
But from that point on, it all makes sense. The distortion and wah-wah are just lying in wait. As the song goes on, Mascis picks up steam. The guitar increases in volume, intensity, width, breadth, and distance. The solo takes over, the rest of the song becomes nothing but preamble, and we build to a huge finish. Then there’s a couple seconds of silence as we wait for track two – giving us enough time for a few deep breaths before the gates open and rapturous waves of sound push forth to flatten everything in their path. The band is in perfect sync: Mascis’ languid vocals and hypercharged guitar attacks build on Murph’s prizefighter drumming, Lou Barlow’s bass (and vocals) fill in every gap and make a few new ones along the way, throwing elbows and lunging to and fro.
It’s a record that’s cohesive without blurring together; each tune has its own distinct identity. The Barlow showcase ‘Rude’ is one of the catchiest straight-ahead punk songs I’ve heard in years, the title track and ‘I Know It Oh So Well’ are picture-perfect mid-tempo agitations, and finale ‘See It On Your Side’ is a sprawling showcase for every bit of pedal-inflected magic that Mascis can wring out of his instrument.
Dinosaur Jr. records have always been made to be played loud, the band walking the line between craft and brute force, precision grown of necessity – and this album is the perfect encapsulation of that approach, a perfectly contradictory combination of volume and finesse, a razor-sharp bludgeon of nonchalance and passion.
I Bet On Sky is now available on CD, vinyl, and as a digital download.
Rubblebucket- Oversaturated (Sin Duda Records, 2012)
Oversaturated, the new EP by Brooklyn-based dancepop auteurs Rubblebucket, is a charming and bewildering set of songs, a record to inspire both daydreaming and nightclubbing. It’s a whirl of lush vocals and body-moving rhythms, five pastel mini-symphonies of synthesizer textures and cotton-candy hooks. Each of the five tracks utilizes similar elements but spins off in its own direction. The opener, ‘(Focus) Oversaturated’, kicks off with cooing vocal and bubbling electronics, and builds to a crescendo of whistling and stomping and handclaps. ‘The Flower Man’ is a swirling confection of childish singsongs, sirens, and Bacharachian brass refrains. ‘Pain From Love’ is animated dancealong of bleeps and bloops, sweeping harmonies, and disco guitar. ‘Oooh Wa’ is a transmission from an imagined 80s late-night program, a mix of car-themed lyrics and rumbling bass and rainbow keyboards. And then, finally, the closing ‘Pain From Love Reprise’ mixes krautrock instrumentation and an oom-pah waltz refrain.
Everything and the kitchen sink are included in the admission here, a hallucinatory blend of 60s lounge, neon nightlife, and Saturday morning cartoons. Each time it seems you find your balance in the middle of a tune, new elements burst in to remake the party in their own image: booming percussion, romantic pauses, crystalline melodies, sharp turns just before reaching the precipice of excess. Melodies fly by, images flash past, a smile spreads across your face, and we skip back to start the record over again.
The Oversaturated EP is now available for download.
The Soft Pack- Strapped (Mexican Summer, 2012)
The Soft Pack are a four-piece from San Diego who play rock and roll. Not really indie, not quite punk, just plain, simple, awesome rock and roll. They mix a lot of my favorite elements: the attitude of 70s CBGB’s bands, the swagger and danceability of new wave, the loose/tight dynamic of 80s college rock. They used to be called The Muslims (under which name they released one of my favorite discs of recent years), became The Soft Pack for the release of their first full-length album (due to the press’s tendency to give the band’s name more attention than the actual music), and now, three years since their last transmission, they’re unleashing this new collection of songs.
And for those listeners who cherish 45s, who canonize great singles by obscure bands, who think the three-minute pop tune might be the pinnacle of humankind’s artistic expression – Strapped is an album to cherish. For those who are less hyperbolic and simply want a good straightforward rock record – you’ll also dig the hell out of it. And for me, someone who falls somewhere between those two extremes – I’m listening to it on constant repeat, not just while writing this review, but while cleaning house, reading, driving, working, or whatever. Twelve songs full of distortion, choppy guitars, clattering drums, world-weary vocals, shouting, little rolling keyboard riffs, echoes and reverb, chiming refrains, excessive phasing effects, compression, melodic baselines, and everything else one could want in thirty-eight minutes of garage rock.
The band performs with plenty of tension and not even a hint of pretension, rolling through tunes one after another, no frills, no conceit, no time wasted. There are a variety of delights here, from the charming jangle of ‘Second Look’ to the midtempo wistfulness of ‘Everything I Know’ to the supercharged blast of ‘Chinatown’. The songs are delivered in an offhand, straightforward fashion, the playing is concise and focused; it’s the sound of a band giving it their best, swinging with ease and confidence and energy.
Strapped will be released September 25th on CD, vinyl, and as a digital download.