Artist.......: Thee More Shallows
Album........: Book Of Bad Breaks
Label........: Anticon
Genre........: Indie
Catnr........: n/a
source.......: CDDA
rip.date.....: Mar-23-2007
str.date.....: Apr-24-0000
quality......: VBR/44.1Hz/Joint-Stereo
Url..........: n/a
track title time
01. D. Shallow 00:45
02. Eagle Rock 02:57
03. The Dutch Fist 03:26
04. Night At The Knight School 03:24
05. Int 1 01:57
06. Proud Turkeys 03:41
07. Int 2 00:46
08. Fly Paper 03:42
09. Int 3 00:27
10. Oh Yes, Another Mother 03:11
11. The White Mask 06:41
12. Chrome Caps 03:56
13. Mo Deeper 01:48
Runtime 36:41 min
Size 54,7 MB
Release Notes:
On Book of Bad Breaks, the full-length follow-up to
2005Æs well-loved More Deep Cuts LP, Thee More
Shallows sharpen the edges of their
precisely-arranged, orchestral post-pop. Last time,
the blessing of a new studio came with a curse:
unlimited time and unlimited tracks to record on,
causing them to work and rework songs, more like
novelists than musicians. This time, TMS set out
with the mantra of first thought/best thought. And
in a studio full of instruments, they chose to
limit their palette, beginning the recordÆs
construction with little more than a $50 Casio
keyboard, Dee's acoustic guitar, and Chavo and
Jason's drums. As things got moving, they grew more
complicated (violin mini-fugues were composed;
Anticon's Odd Nosdam brought his drum breaks;
drones and echoes crept in) but throughout, the
band stayed true to its original intent.
The result is an album moving fast and fluidly
between rich, icy atmospherics and angular,
galloping pop songs, never slowing its pace. ôEagle
Rockö braces a fuzzy keyboard riff with a
jaw-dropping drum beat, its rapid-fire verses
evolving into a stately, expansive chorus. Standout
"The Dutch Fist" begins like dirty Modest Mouse cut
through with the swagger of Why?, then apes Bowie
with the hyped-up bounce of a new indie anthem.
"Int 2" becomes ôProud Turkeysö on a vertiginous
shift from airy strings to crude distortion, then
goes out on a barrage of krautrock-driven drums and
pretty falsetto, while ôThe White Maskö sets out as
deliberately as a Mt. Eerie epic and arrives at a
chorus as memorable as it is frightening. And all
along, DeeÆs mellifluous, slightly twanged
observations offer much to sing along with and
ponder. So yes, maybe Book of Bad Breaks is another
novel, but this time TMS has written a thriller.
Simply put, it's a damn fine record from a band at
the height of its powers.