The And/Ors - Will Self-Destruct
(Better Looking)
In one episode of The Adventures of Pete and Pete, the smaller
Pete hears a garage band play what will become his favorite
song, and, after the band fades away like a dream, he forms his
own garage band in order to try and recreate the song.
The beauty of a garage band is the search for that favorite
song. Through inexperience and not knowing what rules to
follow, the band stumbles and bumbles its way to moments of
pure beauty and invention mixed with inevitable moments of wretched failure.
The And/Ors, however, are an artificial garage band, consisting
of people who've spent years in bands like Interstate Ten and
Jejune. They are trying to recreate the sound of an amateur
band: amps fuzz out in unplanned ways, guitars are mixed simply
with one in the left ear and the other in the right ear, vocals
are sung roughly, etc., while the musicians themselves are
quite experienced.
Much like the younger Pete's garage band, the And/Ors are
searching for their favorite song. Fortunately for
the And/Ors, however, they don't need to search their memories
for fleeting passages from that favorite song; it is just one
of the tracks of Bee Thousand. "The Black Diamond Prince"
is a Guided by Voices tribute track if there's ever been one,
complete with faux-limey accent, fairy tale lyrics, and
quick-paced guitar. The song has energy, but, by its nature
as a tribute, it can only be compared to the tributee.
While Guided by Voices is a clear influence, their's is not the
only style presented on the album. When female backing vocals
are used, like on "At the Saturn Bar," the band sounds like
the stylish Southern guitar pop of Verbena--the best song on
the album. When the guitars get a little more dissonant, like
on "Masterblaster," the band turns into a Television tribute.
Add a couple splashes of prerecorded fan noise, and Will Self-Destruct
could pass as a live album. The recording is made to sound live
with one guitarist coming at you from the left, one coming from the
right, and the prominent drums coming straight at you. The sound is
a bit rough around the edges too, trying to add to the garage band facade.
By not being a true garage band, the And/Ors fail to recreate
the beauty of the garage. The band knows the rules. When they
find a good song, they make it clean and pristine.
All the rough patches seem like they are thrown in for style points,
which make them a lot harder to sit through.
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