Yeah, *Is Music Even Good?* is definitely an intriguing title (somewhat reminiscent of a certain late '80s fanzine that I seem to remember.) And the album is easily one of the most look-how-electic-we're-being-aren't-you-impressed pieces of arhythmic artsy fartsy nerd-rock bullshit on my list, too. Thing is, I *am* impressed. And I didn't hear anybody else this year -- certainly no other indie twerps -- who were anywhere *near* as eclectic as this band (really one guy and a bunch of people helping him, apparently). None of which would matter if, every time I wound up putting the CD back in the changer, I was surprised by how much of it wound up seriously pushing my pleasure buttons. Anyway, here's the review I wrote for the online magazine *Blurt* a few months ago (formerly the non-online magazine *Harp*); it ran in one of *Blurt*'s first couple "issues", which I'm told have since disintegrated from the Internet ether, since the magazine changed tech partners:
LAZY MAGNET Is Music Even Good? (Corleone)
Pretension beyond the call of duty: 19 disjointed tracks of nebbish new wave, by-the-book Pavement tributes, deadly dull indie jangle, split-second noise-punk, fuzzy skuzzy electronica, pomp-and-circumstance glam-swish (“Wilder Climes”), café-jazzed French pop (“Un Coco Pour Dejuner”), liquid Santana boogie (“Fighting to Survive Live With Langenus, Beckman, Francisco, Taber & Cousins”), extended space-psych blasting off from the Middle East (“Your Hidden Adversary Is Rising Pt 3: A Flower Fighting A Dragon”), tightly compacted but courageously over-the-top Art Bears prog-metal (“Weird Bummer Of A Spiritual Sheild”), and talked country where your stereo goes on the fritz (“Masters of Science Fiction.”) The success-to-failure ratio is way higher than cassette-culture veteran Jeremy Harris and his 16 Providence pals probably deserve. There are even a couple actual songs!
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LAZY MAGNET Is Music Even Good? (Corleone)
Pretension beyond the call of duty: 19 disjointed tracks of nebbish new wave, by-the-book Pavement tributes, deadly dull indie jangle, split-second noise-punk, fuzzy skuzzy electronica, pomp-and-circumstance glam-swish (“Wilder Climes”), café-jazzed French pop (“Un Coco Pour Dejuner”), liquid Santana boogie (“Fighting to Survive Live With Langenus, Beckman, Francisco, Taber & Cousins”), extended space-psych blasting off from the Middle East (“Your Hidden Adversary Is Rising Pt 3: A Flower Fighting A Dragon”), tightly compacted but courageously over-the-top Art Bears prog-metal (“Weird Bummer Of A Spiritual Sheild”), and talked country where your stereo goes on the fritz (“Masters of Science Fiction.”) The success-to-failure ratio is way higher than cassette-culture veteran Jeremy Harris and his 16 Providence pals probably deserve. There are even a couple actual songs!