28
Sep
2004
Driver of the Year’s Jason Parris promised a few months ago that the band’s new full-length release, Statik, was going to be as “bare bones” as possible.
That phrase is vague when it comes to music.
It can mean something that’s pretty much cut live in the studio, without production flourishes or overdubs, or it can be the unholy, rough-hewn noise of guitar-and-drum outfits such as The Black Keys or The White Stripes.
Statik is neither of those things, and it’s also not the typical indie-rock album that you might expect. It’s “bare bones” in the sense that it’s uncluttered, deliberate, and airy, with instrumentation and arrangement that are nearly shocking in their cleanliness. Parris’ vocals are the only things on the album that sound spontaneous, ranging from falsetto to snarling contempt. Minimalism is invoked as well in the use of repetition, with variations providing much of the dynamic range of the record.
It’s a daring choice, because this type of arrangement and production – with each instrument and sound neatly in its place in the sound mix, often restrained, employed only to create the essential elements of the song – can come off as amateurish and thin.
Statik is anything but those things, though, tough and crafted with discipline and forethought. Until it breaks loose with “Kings Lead Hat” – its 10th and final track – the CD is at times a bit mechanical, but it’s also bracing in its simplicity, particularly in the way the spare musical settings focus attention on the multi-layered lyrics. And the album is exceptional at building tension in the songs and giving the listener brief moments of release.
The band will have limited-edition copies of the CD available at its show at the Brew &View on Friday, and the Future Appletree release is due in stores October 11.
The sound of Statik hints at Radiohead’s “difficult” Kid A and Amnesiac period, but with traditional instruments in the place of electronics. The songs of singer-pianist Jason Parris, drummer Justen Parris, guitarist Seth Knappen, and bassist Jamie Salsbury don’t have traditional arcs of emotion or intensity; they’re more lightly ornamented mood pieces, with musical detours that inform the whole.
Lyrically, the CD also seems to take a page from the Radiohead songbook, with inscrutable pronouncements and clever inversions (“This is the day the cat will kill curiosity”).
The instruments on the opening track, “The Vamp, Stars & Bars,” are insistent and anxious, with clashing percussion contrasted with interlocking, almost delicate keyboard and guitar. That fits with the song’s lyrical push-pull, which takes a cynic’s view yet closes with “I still think there’s hope for this world.” The song serves as an apt introduction to the rest of the CD.
The second track, “Even the Devil Has Friends,” is a little looser and essentially the musical reverse of the opener, ambling with finger snaps and high-pitched vocals, but it’s suffused with bitterness: “And I think it’s kind of clever / The way you spit my heart out.”
The songs continue to get more musically adventurous, with “Confession” starting ominously before turning positively jaunty. The title track is another work of bile, opening languorously with “The people you hate / Turns out they hate you too” and building near the end to what counts on Statik as an instrumental frenzy.
Although the album is stripped-down instrumentally, the sounds are varied, from the slow funk of “Volume Switch” to the sinister guitar squall of “Vs. Cobra” to the rock-and-roll rave-up of “Kings Lead Hat.” Statik isn’t a CD that’s easy to love – the austerity sometimes comes at the expense of the songs – but it’s undeniably smart and fascinating, inviting and rewarding repeat listenings.
Driver of the Year will perform at the Brew & View on Friday, October 1, with guests Mandarin and Humans. Cover is $5, and the show starts at 9 p.m.
Mandarin, Fast>Future>Present
Joining Driver of the Year at Brew & View will be the north-Texas band Mandarin, which earlier this month released Fast>Future>Present. The band’s sound is muddier, more atmospheric, and more expressive than Driver of the Year, but it shares a self-confident sense of singularity. The four-piece formed in 1998, and Fast>Future>Present is its second record. The group’s press kit casts Mandarin as the reincarnation of the Pixies, but the new album plays more like a dreamy Modest Mouse, with its rough edges sanded down. Well worth checking out.
Statik is neither of those things, and it’s also not the typical indie-rock album that you might expect. It’s “bare bones” in the sense that it’s uncluttered, deliberate, and airy, with instrumentation and arrangement that are nearly shocking in their cleanliness. Parris’ vocals are the only things on the album that sound spontaneous, ranging from falsetto to snarling contempt. Minimalism is invoked as well in the use of repetition, with variations providing much of the dynamic range of the record.
It’s a daring choice, because this type of arrangement and production – with each instrument and sound neatly in its place in the sound mix, often restrained, employed only to create the essential elements of the song – can come off as amateurish and thin.
Statik is anything but those things, though, tough and crafted with discipline and forethought. Until it breaks loose with “Kings Lead Hat” – its 10th and final track – the CD is at times a bit mechanical, but it’s also bracing in its simplicity, particularly in the way the spare musical settings focus attention on the multi-layered lyrics. And the album is exceptional at building tension in the songs and giving the listener brief moments of release.
The band will have limited-edition copies of the CD available at its show at the Brew &View on Friday, and the Future Appletree release is due in stores October 11.
The sound of Statik hints at Radiohead’s “difficult” Kid A and Amnesiac period, but with traditional instruments in the place of electronics. The songs of singer-pianist Jason Parris, drummer Justen Parris, guitarist Seth Knappen, and bassist Jamie Salsbury don’t have traditional arcs of emotion or intensity; they’re more lightly ornamented mood pieces, with musical detours that inform the whole.
Lyrically, the CD also seems to take a page from the Radiohead songbook, with inscrutable pronouncements and clever inversions (“This is the day the cat will kill curiosity”).
The instruments on the opening track, “The Vamp, Stars & Bars,” are insistent and anxious, with clashing percussion contrasted with interlocking, almost delicate keyboard and guitar. That fits with the song’s lyrical push-pull, which takes a cynic’s view yet closes with “I still think there’s hope for this world.” The song serves as an apt introduction to the rest of the CD.
The second track, “Even the Devil Has Friends,” is a little looser and essentially the musical reverse of the opener, ambling with finger snaps and high-pitched vocals, but it’s suffused with bitterness: “And I think it’s kind of clever / The way you spit my heart out.”
The songs continue to get more musically adventurous, with “Confession” starting ominously before turning positively jaunty. The title track is another work of bile, opening languorously with “The people you hate / Turns out they hate you too” and building near the end to what counts on Statik as an instrumental frenzy.
Although the album is stripped-down instrumentally, the sounds are varied, from the slow funk of “Volume Switch” to the sinister guitar squall of “Vs. Cobra” to the rock-and-roll rave-up of “Kings Lead Hat.” Statik isn’t a CD that’s easy to love – the austerity sometimes comes at the expense of the songs – but it’s undeniably smart and fascinating, inviting and rewarding repeat listenings.
Driver of the Year will perform at the Brew & View on Friday, October 1, with guests Mandarin and Humans. Cover is $5, and the show starts at 9 p.m.
Mandarin, Fast>Future>Present
Joining Driver of the Year at Brew & View will be the north-Texas band Mandarin, which earlier this month released Fast>Future>Present. The band’s sound is muddier, more atmospheric, and more expressive than Driver of the Year, but it shares a self-confident sense of singularity. The four-piece formed in 1998, and Fast>Future>Present is its second record. The group’s press kit casts Mandarin as the reincarnation of the Pixies, but the new album plays more like a dreamy Modest Mouse, with its rough edges sanded down. Well worth checking out.
