Not to be confused with the band from a few decades back that featured John Waite and future members of Journey but still the proposition here wasn't enough to get me all that enthused. First thing is that it's one of the guys from Woods. Their sound has just not set well with me. Too "oh we're so clever and weird with what we're doing with hippie folk rock, huh?" thing going on
y'know? The concept of Jandek joins the Grateful Dead aided and abetted by some tape effected manipulations may sound good on paper to some ears but not in practice to these (especially when it's sounds like it's trying too hard to be clever or odd.)
The second thing was that made me shrug and think "Yeah, whatever" is that it's another Vivian Girls side/new project. I'm not a Vivian Girls hater by any stretch (I'm at an age where I don't bother to keep up with most backlashes these day) but in the last year or so there's been so many "featuring Vivian Girl..." projects coming out, doubled with marshmallow clouded female voice mixed with Jesus and Mary Chain goo releases coming out what seems every week (The Vivian Girls are the now like the Ramones or Nirvana in that respect it seems) these days it's hit a saturation point.
Imagine my surprise then when there wasn't much fake outsider freak folk going on AND the digital reverb is used but kept under control from getting too ridiculous. Instead, hints of the Modern Lovers with less "maybe he has Down's Syndrome" singing show up in tunes like "Sunset" and on tracks like "Wild 1" and "Wild 2" it's akin to Syd Barrett's Madcaps Laughs if he sounded more wide awake and not so far at the end of his rope. Songs like the wake-n-bake before for the day can be seized "Meet Me In The City" (not the Junior Kimbrough song) walk through Black Lips shambling neighborhood while others like the albums opener "Run Me Over", the slightly off key harmonies laden "Breaking The Law" (not the Judas Priest song) and the waiting for the sun to burn the morning fog off feeling "Sick Kid" sound like the Vaselines hobnobbing with Clinic. Bedroom pop that knows when to get loud but also doesn't mind zoning out when the time is right.
http://www.myspace.com/thebabiesnyc
y'know? The concept of Jandek joins the Grateful Dead aided and abetted by some tape effected manipulations may sound good on paper to some ears but not in practice to these (especially when it's sounds like it's trying too hard to be clever or odd.)The second thing was that made me shrug and think "Yeah, whatever" is that it's another Vivian Girls side/new project. I'm not a Vivian Girls hater by any stretch (I'm at an age where I don't bother to keep up with most backlashes these day) but in the last year or so there's been so many "featuring Vivian Girl..." projects coming out, doubled with marshmallow clouded female voice mixed with Jesus and Mary Chain goo releases coming out what seems every week (The Vivian Girls are the now like the Ramones or Nirvana in that respect it seems) these days it's hit a saturation point.
Imagine my surprise then when there wasn't much fake outsider freak folk going on AND the digital reverb is used but kept under control from getting too ridiculous. Instead, hints of the Modern Lovers with less "maybe he has Down's Syndrome" singing show up in tunes like "Sunset" and on tracks like "Wild 1" and "Wild 2" it's akin to Syd Barrett's Madcaps Laughs if he sounded more wide awake and not so far at the end of his rope. Songs like the wake-n-bake before for the day can be seized "Meet Me In The City" (not the Junior Kimbrough song) walk through Black Lips shambling neighborhood while others like the albums opener "Run Me Over", the slightly off key harmonies laden "Breaking The Law" (not the Judas Priest song) and the waiting for the sun to burn the morning fog off feeling "Sick Kid" sound like the Vaselines hobnobbing with Clinic. Bedroom pop that knows when to get loud but also doesn't mind zoning out when the time is right.
http://www.myspace.com/thebabiesnyc
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