Analogue II - Oh Perfect Masters
(Rubric)
The question arises as to whether we should treat Analogue II like a brand new band with this album, Oh Perfect Masters, being their debut or whether we should treat this as the third album from Analogue, thus being subject to nasty things like "high expectations." For the sake of the 'logue, I begrudgingly choose the former, to cast away any link that could be made with AAA/AAD and Rock Proper, and to treat Oh Perfect Masters as an album from a brand new band featuring musicians that were in that other band I used to like.
So, with that in mind, here comes the audacious, bodacious, and, more importantly, spacious debut from Analogue II. The scale of Oh Perfect Masters was the first thing about the album that took me a back. Some p{ost,rog}-rock bands create a jazzy-noodling sound; Analogue II lashes out with a "Whomp," letting you know this is a rock and roll style album, and that you best be prepared for a rock and roll style ass kicking. Perhaps fittingly, then, Oh Perfect Masters finds the guys and lady of Analogue feeling more -rog than -ost in their p-rock mantra. Dueling Bedhead-like guitar parts? Not many. Slint-like ebb and flow? Not really much of that here. High concept, multi-stage song structures? Yes and yes. Keyboard vamps? Oh hell yeah, there are more vamps on this album than in the whole state of Florida.
Taking -rog over the -ost is certainly a valid choice, but it seems to make them a bit too current and a bit too easily grouped with a band like the Champs. Even the cover art is eerily "appropriate." But this doesn't detract from Analogue II doing many of the same things right that Analogue did, only perhaps in a slightly different way. One of Analogue's favorite tricks was to subtly but substantiatly shift or change a song, mid-stride, in order to throw off the listener but still keep the momentum of the song. While there's still plenty of that slight-of-hand shifting in Oh Perfect Masters, two of the most prominent examples—a yell and a whistle— are song roadblocks. Post rock groove for the sake of the groove replaced by prog rock wiseass-ity.
On this seven song album, there are three songs that are truly great: "Nails Don't Keep Him On the Cross, Love Do," "____ vs. ____ In the World Series of ____," and "It's All In the Mind." "Nails..." opens the album like a nursery rhyme or Dr. Seuss story, only the rhyming parts are not words or even measures but rather several minute long movements that simply, beautifully, and perfectly work together. The song has five sections, going from trepidation and wonder, to highly melodic and comforting, to angry and bruising, to a sweet lullaby, and finally to a searing explosion of rock. Fucking massive, and alone worth the price of the album. "____ vs. ____ in the World Series of ____" is equally as enjoyable, but a bit more linear in structure as the band starts off slow, stutters forward, then gradually builds from sweeping melody to power rock, releases, and mellows to an afterglow. In "It's All In the Mind" the same theme is explored for much of the song, tossed around from one instrument to the other, morphing and mutating. Like the condor, this theme is large and graceful but fragile, and when it finally is on the verge of falling off, it emerges like the phoenix, covered in flames, soaring towards heaven.
While those three songs make Oh Perfect Masters a great debut, the album is uneven and far from perfect. "P.S. Buddy Jack — It's Me, Bamm Bamm" is repetitive guitar noodling with minimal accompaniment from the rest of the band. That and the tacked on keyboard outro just make it sound like a big jumble of ideas. There's no sense of interaction between the guitar, keyboard, and the other instruments, and the song feels underdeveloped and thrown together. "Dojo Casino" follows the same meandering pace as "P.S. Buddy Jack..." but is a bit more coherent and integrated. The song is like you're being led by the band down a path blindfolded, only to take the blindfold off and find yourself exactly where you started, as keyboard then guitar then keyboard and guitar following similar progressions at the same deliberate, slow pace.
If I'm really taking Oh Perfect Masters as the debut album of this new band called Analogue II, then, wow, this is a pretty fucking great album, and I can't wait to hear what they do next to build off this release. If I instead take this as the third Analogue album, then, oh well, this is still pretty great, but I expected some more consistency. While I likely won't give a second thought to considering Oh Perfect Masters as album of the year, it is so big and beautiful, (even with its faults) it may very well be the p{ost,rog}-rock album of the year, which makes you a fool if you don't check it out.
|
