So how does one get turned
on to a band from Oklahoma
doing a kind of baroque chamber
pop thing with electronics, folksy
acoustics and understated and
sometimes whispery light singing
over the top of percolating percussion?
Another pre-streaming discovery,
I think I downloaded their debut
2011 album, Tamer Animals, from
a service called Emusic, a music
subscription site that allowed two
or three full album downloads
a month for 10 or 15 bucks, which
seemed at the time to be a bargain
and a cool way to listen to new
music without a huge financial
commitment. I was not yet aware
of or interested in what would
become in just a few short years
the revolution in music streaming,
where one could essentially
listen for free to billions of different
things and be totally oblivious to
the fact that one was helping to
destroy the music industry. 2011,
for me, was an innocent time, a
time to kind of start over, a
time to move into a new home,
a time to begin again collecting
records in earnest, and a time
where bands like Fleet Foxes
and Other Lives could capture my
attention with this kind of sober,
brooding, moody but melodic thing.
Decidedly good music, and familiar
to me, but still fresh enough sounding
to tell me that this second album,
Rituals, was not a record that I played
a ton. It’s sophisticated music that
requires close attention and repeated
listenings to love, I think. No easy
formulas here, no reliance on memorable
hooks; some cool grooves, but nothing
really that’s gonna make you wanna
shake your ass. It’s contemplative, big
sounding, dark, serious, but lovely.
It’s nice listening, the kind of record,
though, that you kind of have to be
in the mood for. I liked it enough, in
2015, to go in one more time for their
next record, which, before I can spin it,
I remember even less about, the 2020,
For Their Love. The opening track,
“Sound of Violence,” is a lush
6/8 groove with heavy strings and
spaghetti western guitar solo
and a solid vocal. This record seems
a little bit more upbeat, the tempos
are up, the lead vocal is more forceful,
the strings are even bigger and the
background vocals are more layered.
Maybe more importantly, the songs
seem a little more melodically
conventional–whatever that means.
More memorable, perhaps, easier to
sing along with after several listens?
Side two, though, is a little sleepy.
This album is consistent with Rituals,
however, in it’s washy wall-of-sound type
production. The sound of Other Lives
is a big one, theatrical, orchestral,
a thick, rich stew of sonic goodness.
Another band in my collection that
for some reason I neglected. I mean,
I understand why they’re not precisely
my favorite thing on the planet,
(too serious, too moody, not crispy
enough), but at the same time, why
I would have likely benefited from more
frequent listening and closer attention.
Notes on the vinyl editions: Rituals, TBD Records, 2015, opaque white double vinyl. For Their Love, ATO Records, 2020, clear vinyl.
In case you don’t already know: I’m listening to almost everything in my vinyl collection, A to Z, and writing at least one, sometimes two or three long skinny poem-like-things in response for each artist, and on a few occasions, writing a long skinny poem-like-thing in response to more than one artist. As a poet and a student of poetry, I understand that these things look like poems, but they don’t really sound much like poetry, hence, I call them “poem-like-things.” I’ll admit that they’re just long, skinny essays that veer every now and then into the poetic or lyric.
michael jarmer 