Words For Snow / Tristan Da Cunha
Split CD
The
Losing Blueprint
Genres: math rock, indie rock
Andrew Wagner
12A Day Street
Waltham MA 02453
Dec 15 - 21 2003
|
Math
rock ahoy! Boston offspring Words For Snow and Tristan
Da Cunha are two of the best bands of their genre, mainly because they have the
distinction of using their mathematical rhythms and guitar riffs to
create melodies, something many math rock bands seem to
forget. And fortunately they've both brought their
A-games for this exciting split release, and the
resulting album is an enjoyable artifact for fans of math rock and
indie rock alike. Words For Snow kicks things off with the jagged detail and
melodic urgency of professionals - "Paperweight" is a revelation in
complex indie rock, combining amazing technical ability with pure
accessibility. This trend continues through the band's three other songs, most notably the heavily Jawbox-influenced number,
"Rome." While the tracks do come off as being a bit
homogeneous throughout, that isn't really a problem for this short
sample of tunes.
Tristan Da Cunha, meanwhile, has culled five live tracks for their half
of the disc. Less immediately melodic than their split-neighbours, TDC still manage
to knock the listener out in a flurry of hip vocals and Fugazi-esque
energy and guitar abuse. "No Great Shapes" and
"Happy Playtime" are genre-defining moments - somewhere in
between Q and Not U and Faraquet. The band delivers the
riffs and hooks with passion and impatience, cramming as much as
they can into every song. The low point is actually the band's
last song, "Sequestered Perplexities" - as a track on a CD,
it is more of a fragment than an actual piece.
It's impossible to decide which of Words For Snow and Tristan
Da Cunha have won this battle of the bands. They both have similar but unique styles that
deserve to be heard. Needless to say, if you've got six bucks
plus postage lying
around, this split could be a wise investment.
87%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 9 tracks, distributed by the
label, released 2003] |
