Propeller - The Art of Clear Thinking EP
(Makoto)
Wow, so I just got the new Drive Like Jehu EP and it kicks ass... what? What's that you say? This band is called "Propeller"? Impossible! The atonal math riffs! The barely decipherable screaming! The frenetic drumming! The distortion! Song titles that are purposefully oblique! Hmm... so this isn't a new Drive Like Jehu record, you say? I see it now. But man, when that guitar hits in "South Chicago," and the screaming started, I could have sworn... no? No, I guess you're right. What about that slightly melodic opener on "with rusted cannons we fight?" That's classic Jehu, right there. No... no, I guess you're right. It's still good, though. Who couldn't like the frenzied yelping and thick guitars? It sounds like... well, you know who it sounds like.
I guess now is the time for me to vent about what I didn't like about The Art of Clear Thinking, Propeller's debut EP on Makoto Records. Firstly, I really, really dig Drive Like Jehu, and to hear a band who emulates their fiery math-rock so perfectly is at once impressive and entirely alarming, because these guys sound so much like Jehu. The problem is, it just doesn't have the same charm that Drive Like Jehu had. I mean, I listen to songs like "Bring on the Rome Plows" and "Luau," and they fucking rock. The weirdness intensity of those tracks were such a bright spot on a genre that really only began with a couple of bands and didn't look like it was headed anywhere. Aside from Jehu and a few other bands, I don't know of any other math-rock groups who can manage to record an entirely engaging nine-minute mathy beast of a song without inducing some kind of headache. So, back to Propeller. They really are just like Drive Like Jehu, except... the songs... everything about them suggests something besides mathcore. Take, for instance, the serene cover of a pink tinted aquarium (I think). I looked at it and I immediately knew what the music inside sounded like: downbeat, acoustic pop, or reverb washed shoegazer. Boy, was I wrong. Likewise, the titles of the songs ("South Chicago," "Adjusting Pizarro," "With Rusted Cannons We Fight," "Bent Wheel," and "Catch") made me think it might be jazzy post-rock inside, a la Isotope 217. Wrong again! Well, except for "With Rusted Cannons..."--that does sound like the title of a math rock song. The reason for that is probably because it reminds me of "Bring on the Rome Plows." Jesus, Propeller just can't win.
So, even though I went off on a little tangent with this review, I'll sum things up: Propeller are not acoustic pop, and they're not p-rock. They are pure math, in the vein of (again) Drive Like Jehu, early June of 44, Sweep the Leg Johnny, and some of Rodan's spikier numbers. They're very talented; I have deep rooted hope that they'll enhance the sound they're working with and create something that's their own.
|
