[Af_List] Bad Statistics "Static": What is a review anyway?

[stephen clover]

[a] Aquarius Records Highlights of the week from 92 items
in NEW ARRIVALS List #284 (25 January
2008) :

One of our
favorite new records of late, comes to us all the way from New Zealand,
but via Belgium (where their label, long time AQ faves Kraak are
based). A mysterious troupe called Bad Statistics, their debut a two
song vinyl only EPIC. Equal parts droney noise rock, propulsive
krautrock, and even some weird sort-of-doom. Drenched in swirls of
chaotic FX and a blown out in-the-red recording, that manages to be
fierce and murky at the same time.
Each
track takes up a whole side and is given plenty of time to change shape
and direction, sound and spirit, transforming gradually, but managing
to remain hypnotic and blissed out. The A side, begins as a doomy plod,
but with clean guitars instead of downtuned distorted ones, the drums
spare, and all manner of weird demon-y vocals, a sort of post rocky
crawl. Eventually, synths join the fray, and along with the drums, they
lock into a looped cyclical groove, over which, still more strange
vocals croon and moan. And we're talking REALLY strange, mewling
moaning howling weirdness. The music sounds like some spaced out
Tangerine Dream, the drums a constant pound way down in the mix, the
synths pulsing and throbbing, the vocals though turn it into some
damaged outsider space jam. At one point the synths drop out and the
vocals go crazy, sounding like they're speaking in tongues, before the
band kick back in, launching into a fierce Hawkwind style FX drenched
psychrock outro that goes on forever.
The
second track is even better, and one of our favorite songs of the year
hands down. A gorgeously blown out dirge, the guitars so hot they
crumble with every downbeat, the recording super distorted and raw, but
the melody and the main riff are super gorgeous, catchy and minor key,
the track relaxes briefly, spreading out into a glitchy ambient murmur,
over which guitars shimmer, little bits of electronics flutter, and the
bass holds it all together with a simple dreamy groove. Very
krautrocky, and a bit like a more lo-fi noiserock Necks. The track
shifts constantly over the next ten minutes or so, to weird doomy
twang, with gorgeous majestic riffing, thick bass chords, and some
shapeless falsetto vocals, then to a super distorted psychdrone
freakout, replete with chiming guitar harmonics, and a pulsing
throbbing rhythm buried beneath a layer of crunchy buzz, then to a
sunbaked space jam, all open chords, simple drumming, more shapeless
vox, and finally to a washed out krautrock dirge, peppered with bits of
backwards percussion, garbled voices, reverse guitar, and jagged chunks
of crumbling distortion, until the whole thing slowly burns to black. 
Sorry to everyone without a turntable, but this just may be the blown out space psych doom kraut jam of the year!!


[b] Foxy Digitalis review

This record is not as much bad as it is just terrible… Sorry, but this
shouldn’t have been pressed. The band clearly has spent a good deal of
time listening to some good music and probably pride themselves on as
much, but the clear desire to emulate Finland’s inimitable Circle above
having some krautrock/Hawkind leanings is all too apparent and makes
their music that much more unoriginal. As musicians, the band isn’t so
bad and if they keep going I wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually
found their own thing and started producing some exciting music… the
potential is there… however, the vocals are just awful; uncalled for to
say the least. An attempted weirdness that just doesn’t make it.
Sometimes experimental means finding out what works and what doesn’t.
To be fair, the b-side is far better and has a few golden moments, but
I wouldn’t recommend wading through the swamp of bad taste to find
those moments. Not to sound harsh, but honestly, this record would be
better served if it were shelved, and the band would do better to go
back to the rehearsal space and rework their sound a bit. Hopefully
they’ll come back out though, because I genuinely believe there’s
something worth salvaging, just not this effort. 1/10 -- Todd Brooks (29 January, 2008)


I know I'll be wanting to hear this one for myself now.


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