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February 12, 2007
double your referential pleasure
The Photo Atlas - Handshake Heart Attack
Something about the nature of the guitars in this song: at times, they're bright and thick, and they flow together in a way that makes me think of a lazy, long, color-separated river of molten crayon wax (bear with me), where mysteriously riled-up eddies and torrents result in interactions that create secondary incidents of unexpected, vibrant prettiness (this doesn't come across well when I try to write it, but I could draw you a pretty nice picture of what I mean), and other moments where everything crashes and foams, where this song is seeking something (anything) to colorfully erode. (Also, it's quite catchy.)
Photo Atlas's debut LP, the triple negative entitled "No, Not Me, Never", is full of songs that have tucked away sounds and little moments that surprise and delight- on the surface, it's an album of dynamic, tightly arranged, dance-varnished rock songs, but there are certain elements (the flaring, intermittent abrasiveness of the guitars, the occasional (and fitting) asperity of Alan Andrews' vocals, the unrestrained joy that the band obviously derives from their songs) that separate their music from the current glut of slightly interchangeable, anemic post-punk that's being released (and written about ad nauseam by, uh, every website). One of the reasons I like this album so much is that I (probably alone) hear this as kind of a successor, more than anything, to the weird, tense, staggeringly great music of Despistado (featured more than a few times here), and that's mostly due to the sort of punkish edge that most of the best songs on "No, Not Me, Never" have (e.g. 'Electric Shock', 'Merit', 'Little Tiny Explosions', and 'Handshake Heart Attack'), and the way the band imbues their songs with so much energy and urgency.
"No, Not Me, Never" comes out on March 6th, and it should be available here, soon. Also, the band's on an extensive tour right now, so go out and see them if you can.
Posted by Kevin at February 12, 2007 09:41 AM