Euphone - Hashin' It Out
(Jade Tree)
Something happened to Ryan Rapsys when he worked with Bill Dolan of 5ive Style
on the Heroic Doses record. Heroic Doses may not have been very funkified,
but all that funk that makes 5ive Style more or less unlistenable was still
somehow transferred from Dolan to Rapsys and made Euphone's next album,
Calendar of Unlucky Days, equally unenjoyable. Somehow Euphone, which for that
album combined Rapsys with fellow Dose Nick Marci along with guest appearances
by Dolan, became the place for Heroic Doses to put all that funk they so
neatly kept out of their album. Granted, the sound wasn't a drastic change
from the more indie rock, more Tortoise-inspired music from Euphone's two EPs
on Hefty Records, but it was enough added spice to spoil the stew's balance.
A year or two more removed from his experience on Heroic Doses, and Rapsys,
still teamed with Marci, seems back to normal on his new LP Hashin' It Out, once
again emphasizing soul and jazz over tongue-in-cheek funk, once again sounding
like part of the Hefty Records sound (even though they are still on Jade Tree).
Rapsys isn't totally severing his ties to 5ive Style though; however, this
time they invite Jeremy Jacobsen instead of Dolan. On the individual tracks
they appear on, Jacobsen's presence is equally felt compared to Dolan's on
Calendar of Unlucky Days; however, Jacobsen's influence doesn't bleed over
into the other tracks of the album or distort its overall feel. Instead,
Jacobsen's contributions seem to add more variety. Some of the songs wouldn't
sound out of place in 5ive Style: "Press On" is separated
from the rest of Hashin' It Out as Jacobsen's guitar is all over the place,
making it seem like a post-rock version of an Allman Brothers' classic, and
"Where's the B?" is funk for the sake of funk. On the other hand, "Shut It"
sounds like the Dylan Group's attempt at Christmas music using Jacobsen's
vibes and piano melodies, and "Gyrations" is smooth dub chill out music with
mechanically altered nonsense vocals.
The songs without Jacobsen keep the album together and actually may be
stronger, sounding much more like what Euphone did with their first two EPs.
While Euphone doesn't come close to creating their own niche of
post-rock, they definitely try to cover every existing base and do so very
well. On the rock edge of the spectrum, Marci does two different bass tracks
on the song "Nick is Ryan" to create something that wouldn't sound out of
place on a Dianogah record. On the jazz edge of the spectrum, Euphone invite
LeRoy Bach of Wilco (baritone sax) and Dan Bitney of Isotope 217
and Tortoise (putting all he has into conquering the complexities of the
conga) for the very Isotope-sounding "Do You Up." Euphone also do their
best at conjuring the soul of Isaac Hayes to woo young ladies to the
bedroom with "My Ladies Can't Remember the Eighties."
With Hashin' It Out, Euphone learns from how they funked up their last album,
not throwing away funk altogether but refocusing on the elements that made
their first two EPs worthwhile listens. They have also broadened
the spectrum of styles they cover, working out from indie rock and
straight Tortoise-inspired post-rock they started from and expanding it by
studying the 1970s fusion, soul, and funk from which their original styles
came from. Euphone may not have a sound to call their own yet, but at least
they are once again making music I can enjoy from start to finish and through
repeated listens.
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