record reviews:
Poo Poodles
Here Comes the Future...The Future is Now!
(The Quiet Life)
Agoraphobic Nosebleed
PCP Torpedo / ANbRX
(Hydra Head)
It doesn’t seem likely that there would be much crossover between the fanbases of Poo Poodles and Agoraphobic Nosebleed, but the two bands are worth considering together because they offer up a celebration of brevity. Forget the sprawling odysseys of math-rock and post-rock…even the three-minute pop song seems epic in comparison…hell, even a 90-second punk song seems bloated.
Poo Poodles:
Poo Poodles are a duo from Atlanta, and they write simple little ditties that would make Homer Simpson happy; the entirety of the lyrics on this reviewer’s favorite track, the 14-second “Naked Dance,” is as follows: “Doing the naked dance / doing the naked dance / La la la la la la / La la la la la la.” That’s followed by a brief and sassy riff, and that’s that. Up next is an ode to vocalist BP’s favorite level in a parking garage (“P3”) and combines a beatbox rhythm with what sounds like Eugene Levy’s Martian in Waiting for Guffman.
What makes Here Comes The Future clever instead of precious—okay, it’s gonna be a little precious no matter what—is that bandmates BP and P keep the tunes varied and keep them damned catchy. It isn’t the sort of thing where they’re aping the brilliant Wesley Willis and doing mutations of the same song over and over. Instead, they combine lo-fi pop electronic with juvenile sing-songy anthems and bursts of winking punk fandom. And there is a strong nod toward the similarly innocent musical meanderings of Daniel Johnston on “Chipmunk” (another member of the 14-second club). The closing track, “Bananas,” is referred to as a “litmus test” in the press materials; sung mostly in babytalk with the simplest of guitar accompaniments, it’s an apt description. The Poodles see their listening audience in stark, simplistic terms that would make the president proud; you’re either a naysayer or a #1 fan, either with us or against us. Being a fan is a lot more fun. Sure, a number of songs flop, but that comes with the territory—this isn’t the sort of band that’s slaving away in the studio for two years to perfect every last nuance.
They did, however, take the time to make a smart alliance with L.A. design house The Quiet Life, who were inspired to make a snazzy T-shirt based on the title track. In an age when music has become increasingly disposable and the listener’s physical connection to albums—via artwork, liner notes, etc.—has become increasingly limited, it would be nice to see the ol’ band T-shirt given new importance. The Quiet Life also offers plenty of non-music related but hipster-friendly additions to closets, currently including a fetching T-shirt from guest designer Ryan Waller, and offer their last season of designs at discounted prices.
Agoraphobic Nosebleed:
Agoraphobic Nosebleed take a different approach to a brief runtime on the reissue of their 1999 vinyl six-inch (!) PCP Torpedo. The grindcore punishers produce extreme speed freak songs that are so loud that it seems impossible to make them not loud, no matter how much you lower the volume. Brevity, in this case, can seem more like a mercy killing. J. Randall and Scott Hull push their helpful drum machine into maximum overdrive, and Randall sings in the sort of throat-destroying demon-growl that has become somewhat commonplace on the hardcore circuit. When I was a little kid and first started to get into metal, Master of Puppets was the heaviest shit I’d had the chance to hear. Listening to the opening, foreboding strains of “Battery” was like inching up to the top of a roller coaster. After years of building a tolerance and frankly becoming bored with a lot of the so-called boundary-testers, it’s refreshing to feel that jolt again.
What makes some people laugh, of course, will make other people puke—this is true in both the world of amusement parks and the world of metal and its many offshoots.
ANbRX is the remix record, and offers some respite from the non-stop assault of PCP Torpedo—although not much—and also some variation on the forms that Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s aggression takes. Chief among them is Drokz’s “Harder Drugs Faster Mix,” a sort of industrial rave night with a throbbing bass beat that begs for a wall of disorienting strobe lights. It’s the sort of music that would be perfect for a movie scene in which the hero detective is on the hunt for a depraved villain and has followed him to an underground club, where he has to push through a crowd of his worst nightmares in an attempt to find his quarry. DJ Speedranch’s “Thanksgiving Day” makes the band’s sense of humor much more overt, as he splices Randall’s ear-battering vocals with a friendly interviewer (“Why, thank you. That sounded very nice. Would you like to say another word?”)
— Adam McKibbin
More by this writer:
System of a Down - Mezmerize
Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
Cipher - Feature Interview
Coachella 2006 - Live review
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