Blonde Redhead - 23
Rating
RIYL
MenomenaSlowdive
Mice Parade
Daylight’s for the Birds
Tracklist
1. 232. Dr. Strangelove
3. The Dress
4. Sw
5. Spring And By Summer
6. Silently
7. Publisher
8. Heroine
9. Top Ranking
10. My Impure Hair
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Boy, do J-pop artists gulp the meat missile with profuse dexterity. Some of the males are occasionally tolerable, but the females? Unless you’re an overweight member of the Manga nerdery living in the western hemisphere, there’s really no appeal of shrieky, nails-on-a-chalkboard “Chimpmunking” coming out of the pipes of what essentially looks like a 10-year-old with breasts. With that said, it could be considered more than a blessing that Kazu Makino went in a different direction than her sisters. Blonde Redhead came about from being inspired by some Sonic Youth recordings, which prompted Makino to take her shrilly, borderline nasally vocals and mold them around the sounds of a pair of exceptionally talented would-be Guidos.
The trio is now on their seventh full-length simply titled 23. And unlike the recent Jim Carrey movie of a similar title, this album is a splendid work of art. With an achievement such as this, it’s truly bittersweet that a rundown of this band’s existence can easily be summed up in a analogy skating along the lines of Sonic Youth is to Beyonce Knowles as Blonde Redhead is to Kelly Rowland. However, this could change since buoyant ideas say 23 is the type of indie-pop album that could further advance the group’s ever-steadily growing fanbase.
Even though this release continues in the band’s recent trend of leaving behind past influences, describing the overall sound or talking about the album’s songs individually is nearly impossible -- for both very good and semi-bad reasons.
The good revolves around the notion that if there wasn’t such a pop aura surrounding this piece, 23 would call to mind the better dreams of an over-baked concept album. Stretching flashy synths across harmonious strings and modish rhythms, it pushes the same boundaries as its predecessors, Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons and Misery is a Butterfly. Yet, it still manages a simple enough approach to songwriting to keep most casual listeners' attention. Makino and the Pace twins continue to grow in skillful musicianship, putting on a display that is arguably their most inspired effort to channel a multitude of musical nuances into a single theme. 23 is an ambient, charming listen all the way through, with none of its songs rising above or falling behind their neighbors.
However, it’s in that same appraisal where the prior mentioned semi-bad lies. At the very minimum, not even a handful of the songs succeed in prevailing decisively over the rest. This is coupled with the entirety’s mimicking of a plodding tempo that reinforces sentiments of the record lacking truly defining moments. In addition, since the album barely clocks in at a little over 43 minutes, waiting for that breakout moment only leaves one hanging on an abrupt conclusion and wanting more for all the wrong reasons. The ending result gives off a vibe that even though 23 may be their most ambitious effort to date, Misery is a Butterfly still holds the honors of being the absolute best album they’ve put together.
Ultimately, these shortcomings are relatively meager in the grand scheme of things. Whether it’s the radio friendly vocals and pacing of “Silently’s” brilliant, distant echoing of Diana Ross’ “Baby Love” (unless it’s just me), or “SW” and “Spring and by Summer Fall’s” haunting melodies, Blonde Redhead’s latest outing accomplishes quite a bit. Aside from a collection of songs that are just plain fun, if anything, it proves that these guys and gal are consistent with their trek outside of the “Sonic Youth wannabe” label that hovers over their previous catalogue entries.
--MJ Austin
Comments
Austin
The Daily Galaxy
An elephant that never forgets...to kill!
Fort Bragg, CA
I agree
Anytown USA
You play to win the game.
Fort Bragg, CA
Sacramento, CA
i'd also like to point out that i once saw this band do a 2.5 hour encore. and i never got bored. made me a fan for life.
I'm not here to make things better; only to observe and pass judgement.