Tuesday, May 4, 2010

My painful week listening to Apples in Stereo

Boy, you thought I was mean to the National, you should see me when I really get mad. Here’s a review of the new Apples in Stereo, a band which has now used up all of the (considerable) goodwill it earned with the wonderful Discovery of a World Inside the Moone. My favorite track, by a large factor, was the one by drummer John Duhfilo, because it sounds a lot like the Deathray Davies.

The review:

Here’s a depressing thought. Robert Schneider has seen the future…and it looks a lot like 1970s AM radio.

The seventh full-length from the Elephant 6’s psych-bubblegum survivors owes a heavy debt to polyester-era acts like Hall & Oates, Michael Jackson and, especially, ELO, all shipped off in a Ed Wood-style tinfoil spaceship. It’s futuristic, but only in a jokey Planet 9 sort of way, with repeated use of vocoders and gleaming, plasticky synths. But in the more important, musical way, it’s a rocket-sized throwback to a period that, really, does anyone miss?


More

7 comments:

cuddlefish said...

Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark.

jenniferpkelly said...

Yes, I'm going to cut down on the caffeine, I think.

Jean-Luc Garbo said...

That was so good. The last two sentences on the second paragraph were quite funny. You slammed them with style at least. The last paragraph was good, too. You made my day.

jenniferpkelly said...

Thank you, happy to oblige.

About time for some really good no-name bands to step up and blow me away, I think. I've had it with the big guys.

snivel and run said...

john dufilho needs to do another solo record.

Phenome-nonnon said...

I thought I was the only one who can't stand (read: it floats by, not enough to even bore me) The National.

Dave M

ps Hey I'm (also) writing for URB.com...for now.

jenniferpkelly said...

Yes to John Dufilho, wouldn't mind another Deathray Davies album either. Did you ever get to hear that I Love Math CD he did last year? Very nice.

Also, hi, Dave. Actually, no, I really liked the National through Alligator and Boxer, but just didn't care for High Violet.

Urb is cool though, what are you reviewing?