For a while there I was worried I was going to be depleted of material for this blog until the release of Magenta Skycode's long overdue second album and Jessie Evans's solo debut. Thankfully through the power of the internet I have yet again been able to scrounge up another band so obscure that just by writing about them I will lengthen my music-peen by several inches.
The band I am speaking of is called Skeleteen and as a nice tie-in to one of my previous posts, their debut full length album "No Fun Intended" has thus far only seen a digital release. Now, given the option I will always go for owning a release in physical form, but when I don't have that choice I won't shun a band because of it. The digital format also has its clear strengths: being able to purchase music from the comfort of your own home and not having to wait for weeks for the album to arrive after ordering it (something which I've grown accustomed to since I've purchased many albums unavailable in Finland through the internet). Furthermore, now that Apple has finally made their iTunes store drm-free you won't be criminalized for listening to music purchased from there on something other than the computer used to purhcase it and neither will you have to go through the process of removing the drm from each track each time you change hardware.
Anyway, moving on from my "The Future Is Now!" rant, it's Skeleteen with "No Fun Intended." The band's style borrows from many different places, the most obvious influences being the noisy no-wave of bands such as Sonic Youth and Swans, but some of the songs also demonstrate an almost ethereal quality reminiscient of classic shoegaze acts My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. Add a healthy doze of experimentation and time signatures stolen straight from math rock and you've got Skeleteen.
With six songs and priced at $5.94 "No Fun Intended" is well worth its price. The opening song "Bet On Me" is by far the most noisy and abrasive of the lot with its screamed out chorus and sharp guitarwork. The song does mellow out now and again only to jump right back at you at full force. "Gone," which is also the single drawn from the album, is almost hypnotic with its ethereal vocals and guitarwork which moves quickly from sharp and angular to melodic and twangly. "Not This Time" opens slowly but suddenly picks up the pace and turns into a delightful lo-fi noise pop anthem. For a while the guitar goes silent and we are treated to the perfect interplay of the bass and the drums, after which the song comes to an abrupt halt. From here it slowly accelerates back into its original speed and finally comes to an end on the same note that it started on.
"Little Glimpse" is the shortest song of the lot, being an ethereal piece that almost seems to begin in medias res. Nothing too out of the ordinary though. The titular "No Fun Intended" is sluggish and abrasive with its fuzzy guitars that fluctuates between pure noise and a soft guitar pop. It also picks up the pace occasionally to let the band really go apeshit and the song ends with the vocals practically screamed out. The last track, "Overcome," is a fast-paced noisy number. As a lovely little detail the music dies down occasionally to let in the absolutely wonderful whispered vocals, which are followed with the music in full force. Probably my favourite of the lot.
I'm not going to bother to score "No Fun Intended." For its price it's an absolute must-have for anyone who enjoys abrasive noise pop and shoegaze in the vein of My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth and The Jesus & Mary Chain. You could spend those six dollars much worse.
0 kommenttia:
Post a Comment