IG88, Gauntlet Hair, Dana Buoy (of Akron/Family)
door at 9, music at 10
Branden Clarke, otherwise known as IG88, would maybe like to fool you into believing that he and his buttons are buried somewhere in between a spray of ambient elation and the sands of a remote desert planet but there's something else here. Something tangible and soulful, something raw and quick. Something like the full breath of a thunderhead, the shards of sparks following a blunt and sonic hit to the nail on the head.
Out of the roving and admittedly robotic mind of a human flesh and blood IG88 sounds nice and totally means to. Much like Clarke's process, the work of IG88 wrestles with the past and the hilariously sudden future, and tells us a bit more about how to listen to it.
"Gauntlet Hair's self-titled debut is the most compelling demonstration yet of the band's knack for headphones-friendly fist-pumpers. Andy and Craig say they've been playing together since they were 15-- almost a decade ago-- and their songs are stacked with enough ideas to back that up. Andy, who lists the Durutti Column's impeccably fluid guitarist Vini Reilly as an inspiration, uses lots of delay, chorus, and echo effects on his springy guitar licks, giving them a refracted, percussive quality while also making them sound larger than life. When Craig drops those Timbaland-style beats next to his cymbal crashes, you almost wonder whether these guys pal around with Colorado's own, chart-topping OneRepublic.
But then you remember Gauntlet Hair are originally from Illinois, where they recorded this album-- at Andy's grandmother's house. Andy and Craig trade off vocals, which evokes comparisons to likeminded duos: the more cerebral No Age, the more visceral Japandroids. Except Gauntlet Hair sing in half-decipherable yawps, lofted, in celebration or in heartache, over neatly constructed, shape-shifting songs-- when words fail, the feelings still resonate. The longest track here, "Lights Out", plays like a fun-house guitar version of a hugely dramatic Tears for Fears song for three minutes, then swerves into a massive two-minute outro, adding and subtracting just enough catchy bits to maintain the emotional affect.
No, "I Was Thinking..." isn't here, and second A-side "Out, Don't..." isn't, either. As a result, yes, Gauntlet Hair lasts only nine songs. But they're all potential singles in their own right, all different: the romantic smolder of "Showing", the jittery throb of "Mop It Up" (the one that goes, "You say goodbye"), the sparkly shuffle of "Overkill" (something about "praying" and a "vision"). On closing track "Shout in Tongues", the drums drop out to expose a repeated shout that brings to mind the most famous song by the godfathers of the current decade's artsy, reverb-damaged experimental poppers, Animal Collective. "I want a child that breaks the rules, goes to school, and"-- I'm not sure what comes next. Adobe slats? Better listen again." - from Pitchfork
Akron/Family drummer Dana Janssen will release a solo album under the alias Dana Buoy. Described as "a rhythmic and vibrant dedication to the joyous feelings of summer love," Summer Bodies is slated for release this May via Lefse Records.
As his camp explains:What started as hopeful love notes left on an answering machine in Oregon were later crafted into an album in a bungalow near a jungle lagoon in Thailand. Armed with nothing more than a laptop, an MPC1000, and the enchantment of the paradise found there, the songs began to take shape, mimicking the tropic forms that surrounded them.The record was completed months later in Brooklyn and was fleshed out almost solely by Buoy with live drumming, guitar, thumb piano, and samples built from omnichords, analog synthesizers and iPad apps. During the recording, Buoy (real name: Dana Janssen) and his engineer weathered an earthquake, followed by Hurricane Irene neglecting to evacuate and maintaining days of isolation brought on by the tropical storm The result is Summer Bodies, the culmination of over a year of songwriting and traveling. A dream pop record combining elements of Afro beats, synth pop, and what Buoy refers to as "Tropicore". The songs connect the dots between Paul Simon and Drake, providing a sonic spaceship ride from the beach party to the after party.
The Shakedown (View)
1212 State Street
Bellingham, WA 98225