PINK SKULL
Zeppelin 3
(Free News Projects)
1/2
Dieu merci! Just as I’m starting to get seriously burned
out on all that compression-crunched, chest-kicking, crème
brûlée–cracking French electro rock, Philadelphia’s
Pink Skull come along and bust me out of my rut (Hercules and Love
Affair have been helping, too). Debut long-player Zeppelin 3 is the perfect dance-floor antidote to precisely distorted,
locked-to-the-grid techno: an album that ricochets from loosey-goosey
disco rhythms to mind-frying analog synth noise to dub-faded psych rock
to block-party rapping without missing a beat. It may be the only album
ever, past or future, to feature vocal contributions from both K
Records songstress Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn and Wu Tang Clansman Ghostface
Killah.
All the fun-loving genre busting makes perfect sense given the
Philly collective’s pedigree. Pink Skull began in 2003 or 2004 as a
collaboration between Julian Grefe (of Frenchkiss avant rockers S
PRCSS) Justin Geller (aka JG) and Ian Kelly (aka DJ Diabolic), all of
whom are connected through legendary Philly club night Making Time.
Since then, they’ve released a couple of DJ mixes that highlight their
eclectic tastes as well as their knack with names (Step into My
Orifice, Baby, and The Return of the Second Avenue Phantasmal
Poison Arrow Band), they’ve remixed Plastic Little and
Architecture in Helsinki among others, and they’ve recently expanded
into a full live band.
That goofy Plastic Little jam, “Crambodia,” appears here (lending
the album its aforementioned Ghostface verse), and the album is awash
in clever, referential titles—”Fuck ‘Dead or Canadian,’ Let’s
Play ‘Homeless Guy or Arthur Baker,'” “Itchy Woman,” the AFX-glancing
“Bubblelog Aftermath”—but the real standout is the group’s
playing and production. Lead single “Gonzo’s Cointreau” is a careening
conga ride, “Unicorn Harpoon” is a smurfy bounce, “Itchy Woman” is an
orgasmically climactic acid freak-out. It’s messy, it’s live, it’s
groovy—it’s exactly what I needed for spring.
ERIC
GRANDY
ELLEN ALLIEN
Boogybytes Vol. 04
(Bpitch Control)
1/2
The records that dance-music DJ, producer, and label head Ellen
Allien releases under her own name are the primary source of her
popularity in America, but none of them has stayed with me the way her
DJ-mix CDs have. Or, it seemed for a while, the way they once could
have. Last year, Allien released two DJ sets, Fabric 35 and
Time Out Presents the Other Side: Berlin; both had their
merits, but neither came close to rivaling Allien’s 2002
Weiss.Mix, one of the most assuredly paced and endlessly
playable techno sets of
the decade.
It’s odd that Allien waited until Boogybytes—a mix
series on her own label, Bpitch Control—was in its fourth
installment to step up to the decks. But holding off until she was
absolutely ready has a welcome effect: Vol. 04 is her most
inspired DJ issue since Weiss.Mix. Kicking off with the
heavily reverbed spoken-word of AGF’s “Liniendicke,” Allien soon drifts
into digital chirps and chitters courtesy of Vera’s “In the Nook,”
which coalesces into a steely, bubbling groove that dominates the bulk
of the set.
The peaks here are many and varied. Melon’s “Nitzi (In My Mind, So
Fine)” builds droning organ chords, congas, and wordless falsetto
background moans into a surprisingly emotional whole; Andres Zacco and
Lucas Mari’s “Carbonela (Seph’s Vidrionela Rmx)” is a marvelously
ear-tickling clicky-poppy glitch-groove. Allien goes especially heavy
on 3-D sonic tricks, as with Sozadams’s “Eyes Forlorn,” which rides
seesawing bells and woozy bass, its vocals undulating like the floor of
an inflatable bouncing castle at a state fair, and Lucio Aquilina’s “My
Cube,” with its popping low end and shapeshifting thumb-piano lick.
Even at 66 minutes, Boogybytes Vol. 04 seems to zip by in no
time at all.
MICHAELANGELO MATOS
SUPERGRASS
Diamond Hoo Ha
(Parlophone)
1/2
Road to Rouen is a weird route to falling in love with
Supergrass. A decidedly softer, off-character record from 2006,
Rouen finally mined the Beatlesian influences that the band
had been avoiding all along. Previously, the genius of Supergrass had
blended much of the Brit-rock music history that their peers Oasis and
Blur ignored—T.Rex, Zepp, the Buzzcocks, even Elton
John—into a modern, shameless pop-rock-a-thon. Wicked stuff,
certainly, and it padded more than a few great mixtapes, but I found
their progression on Rouen refreshing, thanks not just to
Lennon-y moments but also to intelligent turns in songwriting.
Guess the band didn’t think so, as they return to their signature
take on straight-out British rock lore on sixth album Diamond Hoo
Ha. So long as Gaz Coombes keeps pumping out mixtape-worthy gems,
the return ain’t so bad—”Whiskey and Green Tea” is the band’s
most pounding sing-along rocker since “Richard III,” sax explosions
breaking up stories of “being chased by William Burroughs”; “Rebel in
You” and “When I Needed You” see the band making the most of their Marc
Bolan love affair, both bouncy, Brit-funk pleas for an old flame. A
touch of Rouen boosts the Dylan-loving “Ghost of a Friend” and
its sparkling, Cali guitar licks. But the band’s knack for catchy isn’t
sticky enough this time: The title track is a sloppy take on the White
Stripes (why not channel Zeppelin directly?), “345” sounds like a
forgettable Ash B-side, and “Return of Inspiration” makes a joke of its
title. Supergrass have the tough job of living up to either their best
singles or their Rouen rebirth. Diamond, while solid,
does neither.
SAM MACHKOVECH
Planet of the Apes
Soylent Green
The Ten Commandments
NRA