Grampall Jookabox
"Scientific Cricket" CD
Joyful Noise Recordings
Genre: lo-fi, folk pop
August 2007 |
this record
rules, joyful noise rules, and grampall jookabox especially
rules. i don't know what to do with this recent influx of incredible lo-fi
music, the most recent of which is this bizarro americana romp that
seamlessly combines kooky experimentation and continuous infectious melody.
in the vein of recent outsider folk outings like akron/family,
animal collective, and flying canyon, gj crafts
unlikely hooks out of brittle musical architecture. and who doesn't
love those longing falsetto harmonies? a collection of campfire
fragments, scientific cricket collects some of the most
enjoyable makeshift song scribbles i've come across. take "ponta," a
sorrowful melody layered with plinking xylophone and stray audio - it'll
get stuck in your head, but the oddball commune atmosphere it evokes
will keep things from getting stale. meanwhile, brilliant "earlobe
kite" uses a sped-up vocal track as its primary melody and builds
guitar and other vocals around it - it might be the most original song i've heard this year. on the stranger end, "we are the small windows"
is a brilliant folk piece sped up to chipmunk-vocals speed, resulting
in a strangely beautiful bit of outer spacey pop. and "light my
bedroom from below" is a dark country ditty with slowed down lead
vocals and accompanying falsetto. of course, not all of this is as
good as its best moments - chantalong "liggle timmy toothpick" and
"biz biz business" are cute but short for a reason. still, most of
these songs are more original and enjoyable than 99% of what gets put
out these days. cheers to one of this year's best records so far. mp3 (from
joyfulnoiserecordings.com):
ponta
89%
Fun Fact: The album's
artwork was designed by Aaron Tanner of Stationary Odyssey
fame.
coxwell balaban
[Vitals: 12 tracks, distributed by
the
label,
released 2007] |
