Chimpomatic

Japandroids

Post-Nothing

Polyvinyl Records

The noise pop scene is really picking up steam lately and we have seen the whole drums/guitar due done many times. We've had the recent Wavves breakdown, the vitriolic expletives of Psychedelic Horseshit's Matt Whitehurst and the rather oversensitive Hunches fans so it sure is nice to hear a band who fit the formula but really couldn't give a toss about it as well. Japandroids is Brian King on guitar and David Prowse on drums and their debut album Post-Nothing has all the reckless, punk abandon of an uptight teenager, a knack for hooks like you've never heard and enough perspective to not take itself too seriously.

All you have to do is listen to some of these lyrics to get the M.O. of this band. They're screeched with fledgling raw passion but are shot straight into the sky with enough epic heart to punch a hole in the sun. Young Hearts Spark Fire, one of the finest 5 minutes I've had for a while, states "We used to dream, now we worry about dying," then elaborates, "I don't want to worry about dying, I just want to worry about those sunshine girls." Me too buddy. The goal of Wet Hair is to get to Paris to "french kiss some french girls." I've just got back from Paris and that never happened, I didn't really want to even if I had the opportunity but when you're these kids ages it would seem pretty doable. All this heart is presented over crashing drums and some of the finest driving guitar hooks i've heard for ages. They play like their lives depend on it and with a confidence rarely seen after 25 they instill a beautiful glow of immortality in me every time I hear them. Heart Sweats is one of the many highlights here, the way it mixes the ultimate with the banal in its repetitive mantra, "Your heart's cold as ice girl, I should know I've been to the North Pole / Your soul's black as death girl, I should know I've crossed the threshold / Your style's a mess girl, I should know I used to date a stylist." In these lines they explain both idealism and the priorities of the young. It's genius and it's all delivered forcefully over a chugging structure that keeps renewing itself with unfailing excitement.

There's been much debate about the production of many DIY bands kicking around at the moment and though this isn't Pink Floyd its solid production work give the chunky riffs some profound bite and make the vocal's effortlessly dive over the top. Crazy/Forever crashes around with tinny cymbals then turns on a dime and drops into a deep guitar chord that instantly becomes the driving spinal chord to the longest song on the record. It seems they really don't care if you like this stuff or not, they just have to get it out or they'll explode. I charge anyone to listen to this and not feel a sudden rush of the purest type of nostalgic idealism.

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2nd Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Big Sleep

Son Of The Tiger

French Kiss

The Big Sleep are a 3 piece band hailing from Brooklyn NY and they make a big rock noise. Sometimes it's psychedelic noise, sometimes straight up driving noise, but on the whole it means business. Son Of The Tiger opens with a musical eqivalent of a firm kick in the nuts. Brown Beauty is an instrumental sonic onslaught that holds you in its tight grasp as it steadily builds from dark and brooding to loud and heavy to louder and heavier. As you stand there, breathlessly exhausted, mouth open they hit you with a second wave with Murder. This is Electrelane after a music lesson with Wolfmother. Sonya Balchandani's vocals are sweet and subtle and are an effective contrast to the heavy riffs and crashing symbols around her.

Unfortunately, The Big Sleep are not able or willing to keep up this pace and the album takes a slight dive into no mans land as spacous, plodding stoner rock becomes the prefered method. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but after the power of the opening tracks the album seems to drift off into obscurity. Tracks like S.K.B and Menemy tend to start out fine but soon get lost in muddy cymbols and feedback and all to often lack the guitar structure of the earlier gems. However things pick up with Shima. It's jangly opening guitars are a welcome break from all the fuzzy, heavy riffs and the vocals are more audible becoming the focus that unites the song. It has more of an indie feel and builds more naturally to the familiar cymbal cacophony finale. This short break prepares you nicely for the moody title track that follows. It's a similar deal to earlier but seems to work better here and the screeching guitars and thudding rhythm really satisfy.

The Big Sleep have put together a very refreshing blend of dirty, shit kicking rock with dulcet female vocals and also seem to be in love with the entirely instrumental heavy jams of bands like The Longcut or Kinski. Put all this together and you get an album that isn't perfect but has guts and isn't afraid to grab you by the scruff of the neck and give you a darn good shaking.

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11th Dec 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet