Stuporhero
"Weightless" CD
Basement Tape
Records
Genre: indie pop, lo-fi
Aug 14 2008 |
At just under eighteen minutes, Weightless is a short album but
certainly an interesting one from this Seattle-based indie pop group.
Ostensibly a trio, Stuporhero is comprised
of Jen and Will who provide instrumentation and
frequently-harmonized vocals, as well as a vaguely disconcerting
plastic mannequin who is advertised as their drummer. These goofy
antics handsomely set up the band's
unconventional approach to pop music, characterized by lo-fi recording
ethics and fragmented but pretty songs. There are many moments on
Weightless that beg to be hummed along to. Lushly endearing
poppers “Cyclops” and “What Do You Wanna Be,” as well as spacey
“Colliding,” show the Stuporhero formula at its
finest: rich in immediately infectious
hooks, and briskly to the point. Sadly, certain other
songs don’t strike the listener quite as sweetly: opening opus
“Deception Pass/Weightless” is hardly the disc’s most memorable
moment, while skeletal “Cloudshine” has a nice trumpet/vocal bit but
overall seems undirected. Meanwhile, Wild Love-era Smog-esque
“Light at the End of the Night” is an interesting experiment, although
ending the disc with a reverse version of the opener amounts merely to
fluffy gimmickry.
Despite its pitfalls, however, the surprising truth
is that Weightless is a remarkable
artifact from a market of self-released pop
that is saturated in mediocrity. And, quite generously, the band is
offering it as a completely free download from
their website,
a refreshing reaction to the global movement towards digital music
proliferation. Stuporhero may have rough edges, but they choose
to revel in them, and this disc ends up fragmented but all the better
for it. Although not flawless, this album is certainly worth a
download – just skip the last track.
stuporhero's myspace
78%
youuuuuuuutube!:
"zombies on parade" video (from stuporhero's last album)
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 9 tracks, 17:52, distributed
free online by
the band,
released 2008] |