Page 27 - the NOISE July 2013

Hourglass Cats
437
Self-released
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I only see scenarios in which the Hourglass Cats take over Northern Arizona with their slick Sublime meets Sugar Ray/No Doubt sound. These five songs are well-honed dance-induc- ers, in which the horns are righteous, and the slapback and delay effects are kept to a taste- ful touch. “Keep Steppin’” is the perfect intro.
“Havoc” gets a little heavier, with a nice meaty riff and a little more hip hop influence. It makes you want to jump, jump. “Sense” turns the vol- ume down, and it’s about weed, so it’s a keeper. It’s maybe not as slow as it should be, but that’s not these Cats’ trip. “Punching Puppies Kick- ing Kittens” is probably the most fun for these guys to play. It’s barely ska, if at all, and is more about rocking a party into a frenzy, so they can go acousta-funky for the ridiculous ender,
“Yoga Butt,” which is straight up hip hop, and I feel like this has been done, (I’ve sat through the Youtube video) but it’s not like these guys are going for originality in the first place. What makes this album is the Operation Ivy level of energy and enthusiasm.
If this were my first year doing this, I’d do my best to tear this apart. More Arizona kids doing sh*tty ska music? Really? I’m not so easily of- fended these days, thank Jah. (No, really. Thank him.) This is obviously fun as hell and meant to be.
Remember when the Mighty Mighty Boss- tones had their moment in the California beach sun? This has that kind of spring break break- out potential.
Bee Bones
EP
Self-Released
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This CD-r was sent to me from the big man at Noise central and it just said ‘Bee Bones’ and had a picture of, like, a butterfly skull written in green Sharpie marker. Luckily, the album has an introduction. The ukulele (mandolin?) and strings that make the base of the songs are charming, but the lyrics are even more so. I don’t have song titles, but the song with the
hourglass Cats; bee bones
lyrics, “What a beautiful pussy you are,” is a hit that reminds me of both Dry River Yacht Club and Asleep in the Sea. Kind of a They Might Be Giants weirdo vibe throughout, but more like, They Might Bee Gypsies. “We’re gonna burn the beauty of this world into our souls/So when we go, there’s nothing left to do except explode/ Shrapnel of love is raining down on everyone./ So we can say they can have their heaven at the end/We’ll take ours now.” (I love the cough during the second chorus, giving this an even more live vibe than it already has.) It’s quite the manifesto, and could’ve ended the album rather than the trancey, sort of spooky instru- mental that does. It’s got a good vibe though, and shows yet another side to a great band. Mysteries abound.
Dirty Beaches
Drifters/Love is the Devil
Zoo Music
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Alex Zhang Hungtai’s Elvis meets Suicide dronescapes were introduced to me on a road trip, which is maybe the perfect way to discov- er a great new artist.
This is not the (double) album where the Beaches are cleaned up, and it’s all hi-fidel- ity disco, but it is more instantly lovable than 2008’s Horror for example. At the same time, this sounds like your home recordings. The ones where you throw as much reverb on ev- erything that you can, drones go on far longer than they should, and you break out that old drum machine that no one likes, particularly this reviewer. I’m trying to decide if Hungtai’s attention span is that much longer than mine, or he’s just smugly laughing at me. There is great stuff here. “I Dream in Neon” has out- standing Depeche Mode chic. Most of Drifters is good and weird. The nearly ten minute “Mirage Hall” sounds like a New Order track dubbed from a cassette in which the tape it’s recorded onto has been recorded on a hundred times- one of the albums being dubbed over might be the soundtrack to 2001. It’s hard to dance to Gregorian chants. Or maybe there’s just a spirit trying to communicate through the magnetic tape. Possibly. That ghost or demon has taken control of the tape deck while the New Order track is recording. It’s a fine line between stupid and clever... I do get a vibe of traveling around
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