The Candies - Dense Waves Make Your Eyes Wider
(Turn)
The Candies have the best name for a band of all time ever. And, to make things better, on the cover of this record is a guy dressed like on of the dudes from OMD in their bit in fine film (and accompanying soundtrack) "URGH! A Music War" (in which they perform the excellent "Enola Gay") who is holding what appears to be some kind of computer peripheral device. That is, he looks totally awesome. Never have I been so excited to listen to a record that came in the mail that I had not specifically sought out.
Sadly, the Candies are not new wave heroes. They are, in fact, Italians who play indie rock the way it sounded before crap ideas about "pop music" and "country music" and "jazz music" and "girlfriends" and "vibraphones" started mucking everything up. That is to say, it's like earlier Unwound but with a guy with an accent like the guy from Blonde Redhead. Alright, maybe that's a bit of an oversimplification but that's what reviews are for, isn't it? Anyway.
What you get are eight songs in twenty-five minutes that filter the spastic rhythms of early post punk through the more guttural, noisy indie rock of the last decade. So, "Like Tennis Shoes" employs slashing Gang of Four guitar riffs that wind tighter and tighter, breaking up in loose and noisy choruses where the distortion bleeds into thick haze. Or "Being Together" mixes the sharp riffs with a looping, off-balance rhythm that propels the song like a broken carousel.
The Candies have loads of energy and their intensity never wanes or dissipates, but they never really transcend their influences. Their enthusiasm is effective, and I imagine they are quite impressive live. On record, however, they made me think about how I'd rather listen to Blonde Redhead, or Gang of Four, or Unwound, or even Liars. And when it comes down to it, the record is one that does not get played again, but is set aside in favor of the ones it has cribbed from.
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