Couch - Profane
(Matador)
A whole bunch of German bands gained recognition in the United States
a few years back thanks to labels like Trance Syndicate, Thrill Jockey,
and Mute. Couch is kind of like the caboose in that train of bands,
the last one to make the trip over, standing out a bit from the rest
due to its different purpose and form. All these bands are sort of
electronic, sort of pop, and sort of experimental, but Couch fits in
much more cleanly with the type of bands already playing in the United
States, post-rock rock bands. Their use of groove and, to a lesser
extent, texture links their sound with their countrymen, but the instruments
they use and the sounds they create are more like a band from Chicago.
Couch's new LP, Profane, is the band's first album simultaneously
released in both Germany and the United States. While Couch stands out
as the rock band in a bunch of bands that don't really try to rock,
Profane makes some attempts to remove the rock, blurring the line
between them and a band like Kreidler. For example, guitars are not used in some
tracks, strings and horns are added to others. Some songs are standard
keyboard and guitar driven rock songs like on their previous album Fantasy
while others attempt to be something else ("Doch Endlich" uses strings
to create a brooding mood-fest, and "Was Alles Hä" is light background
music made by only keyboards).
These changes in style make the album more varied, for sure, as the
band's Fantasy was just short enough to not start to sound
samey, and the band manages to make these modifications without altering
or ruining their rock songs. In other words, they don't sell out by
making wholesale changes, only minor modifications and experiments.
For instance, it would be easy for the band to say, "Let's just start using drum
machines and totally try to sound like To Rococo Rot," but they don't--and
it's a good thing because Thomas Geltinger's drumwork can be very
inventive. He manages to use entirely live drumming but, at times,
create a sound that is as textured as his fake-drumming contemporaries,
whether it's from a fast roll on the snare, sustained crashes on
his hi-hat, or the distortion of poor recording.
With all these changes, Couch's sound and purpose remains much the
same. They are still "the" rock band of the group, and they still
create a groove that makes you feel like you're coasting through
a vacuum--the groove has such forward momentum that you feel it
could keep you coasting for all eternity with nothing to slow you down.
It's these moments where Couch can create moments of true beauty, like
in the fantastic track "12 Sind Nur 4." After a quiet, very long
intro, a keyboard melody and guitar rhythm explode, as if set in motion
by some magnetic force, bringing you to their cruising velocity. The
guitar and distorted cymbal crashes set the pace, as an organ creates
a fluctuating tone as a backdrop for the simple but astonishingly beautiful
melody from the keyboard. The song keeps flowing and flowing, subtly
morphing as different instruments take the lead.
It's these moments where the sound Couch creates kind of gets behind
you and pushes you in the ass, making you move forward along with them,
that make them a very good band. The momentum they create can be
amazing. The band continues to evolve on Profane, which makes the album
a more interesting listen, but not necessary a more pleasing one--that
great momentum they create has been part of their sound from the start.
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