_____________________________________________________________________________
::k4:
a r t i s t :: Lotus Plaza
t i t l e :: Spooky Action at a Distance
d a t e :: 2012-04-00
l a b e l :: Kranky
g e n r e :: Indie
s o u r c e :: WEB
b i t r a t e :: 320 kbps avg
e n c o d e r :: LAME
t r a c k s :: 10
p l a y t i m e :: 44:02
s i z e :: 107.9MB
tracklist
1 untitled 1:25
2 strangers 4:30
3 out of touch 4:33
4 dusty rhodes 3:38
5 white galactic one 4:06
6 monoliths 3:35
7 jet out of the tundra 6:33
8 eveningness 5:05
9 remember our days 5:07
10 black buzz 5:30
releasenotes
Deerhunter is one of the most fascinating bands going because they're a
democracy functioning the way most of us experience democracy, whether in
politics or the workplace: fully participatory, but with a wildly
disproportionate power structure. With Bradford Cox fronting the group as one
of rock's most dominant personalities, it's easy to view Lockett Pundt as
following in the lineage of reclusive guitar wizards who serve as a necessary
counterbalance. Whether or not Cox goes off the grid any given night, you can
catch Pundt standing catatonically still and staring off into the distance
when his gaze isn't intently focused on an armada of effects pedals.
Based on that persona, no one could've been surprised by his solo bow as Lotus
Plaza, 2009's The Floodlight Collective. A mΘlange of looped guitar and
amorphous vocals slathered in amniotic goo, it wouldn't have stood out in any
year, and released smack dab in the midst of indie's deadbeat summer, it was
the kind of solo record that could only be the result of a guy who goes to the
greatest lengths possible to not get noticed. But even if he gets
approximately 0% of the good quotes in any Deerhunter interview, the
relatively egalitarian division of the band's songwriting labor makes Spooky
Action At A Distance every bit as unsurprising as its predecessor. In an
infinitely more rewarding way, of course: save for a minute-long intro that
recalls Floodlight, these are nine reminders that Pundt also is responsible
for soft-focus beauty of "Agoraphobia", "Neither of Us, Uncertainly", and the
juggernaut centerpiece of Halcyon Digest, "Desire Lines". This consistency
means Spooky Action lacks the galvanizing force of Deerhunter and the
unpredictability of Atlas Sound, but in fully realizing its comparatively
modest ambitions, it's one of the strongest indie rock records of the year so
far.
Comparing how Cox and Pundt function in their solo ventures tempts a needless
quarterback controversy, but nonetheless, it is helpful to see how they're
complementary. While Atlas Sound allows Cox to indulge in genres,
collaborations, and haircuts that wouldn't vibe with Deerhunter, Pundt tends
to find inspiration in limitations, patterns and forms. Pundt prefers echoing
guitar, slow-moving vocal melodies, and distorted washes that generally
signify qualifiers like "shoegaze" and "dream-pop," but neither of those
really sit well with me. The "dream" part implies exaggeration or illogic,
while nearly all of Spooky Distance is handcrafted, thriving on structure and
restraint-- a constant, kraut-like pulse, strict patterns of verses and
choruses broken down into repeating chord progressions, loops, loops, and more
loops.
Moreover, along the lines of Real Estate and especially the War On Drugs,
Pundt embodies a wakeful, meditative state associated with various forms of
transit: your physical being stays relatively still while being in motion, a
symbiosis between human and mechanical effort. I can't help but think of each
song here as having some sort of vehicular spirit animal, so to speak. As with
"Desire Lines", the anti-flash "solo" that breaks from the casually soaring
chorus of "Strangers" could be visually represented as medians on a deserted
open road, and the anticipatory effect of its repetition brings the relief of
arrival during the final minute of decrescendo. Meanwhile, the timbres on "Out
of Touch" are fit for a vigorous bike ride, sleigh bells and metallic guitar
loops jangling rhythmically over a cyclical kick drum pattern. The shambling
acoustic closer "Black Buzz" feels just right for foot traffic, and "Jet From
the Tundra" cruises at speed like its namesake, the same handful of chords
repeating throughout a remarkably brisk seven minutes while Pundt seamlessly
adds and removes trebly acoustic strums, Superball bass riffs, and a gorgeous,
one-finger piano melody like he's slowly pulling levers in the cockpit. Spooky
Action then plays out like ten self-contained, daily commutes where
familiarity brings not contempt but a private joy in recognizing the landmarks
and shortcuts.
Lest it seem like Spooky Action is an overly subtle work, it's worth
reiterating that its 44 minutes are unerringly tuneful and immediate, the sort
of thing that seems unambitious until you step back and ask yourself just how
many records out there manage to actually pull it off. And Pundt's means of
cranking out one instantly memorable chorus after another brings to mind
someone who's incredibly good at sports wagering: there's surely some
intuition and luck involved, but Pundt's a guy who's figured out how certain
mismatches and trends work to his advantage. To get specific: the
hyperextended guitar bends that push "White Galactic One" are technically a
slight bit off, yet it's that serration that demonstrates why things like
these are called "hooks." Where a specific minor chord might be more
harmonically congruent, Pundt inserts a major and the result finds "Monoliths"
and "Strangers" stocked with ear-turning melodies as opposed to folky
familiarity. Heck, it's likely the greatest testament to Pundt's abilities
that Spooky Action is in a major key and dedicated to simple pleasures of
escape and memory more often than your typical "power-pop" record, and yet it
always comes off as warm and generous rather than cloying.
And so while Lotus Plaza is truly a solo project for Pundt, I hear more
purposeful solitude than isolation-- like reading a book or swimming laps,
"antisocial" with all the pejorative connotations removed. Maybe I'm reading
too much into things, but in light of Deerhunter's notoriously volatile
personnel dynamic preceding Halcyon Digest, it's tempting to hear Lotus Plaza
as Pundt's platonic ideal for a band, where people are as predictable and
helpful as loops and are united in their pursuit of the kind of reverberant
pop music that makes perfect sense for the times you most enjoy getting caught
up in your own thoughts. It's a common ambition for artists to capture the
music that plays out in their head and if Spooky Action is really what Pundt's
hearing, you can't really blame him for looking so lost within himself all the
time.
Artist-Url: http://deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com
Shop-Url: http://tinyurl.com/7fllnc3
_____________________________________________________________________________
Lotus_Plaza-Spooky_Action_At_A_Distance-(krank166)-WEB-2012-k4