Transient Songs
Plantation to Your Youth EP
Indian Casino; 2008
I wanted to erect this elaborate metaphor to describe the frustrating stylistic dichotomy that I hear in the music of Transient Songs. I had also hoped to dissect the adjective “transient,” discussing how the fluid use of genres on the Plantation to Your Youth EP was an apt descriptor for the varied sounds used in the noun “songs.” Because, in a perfect world, I wouldn’t have to resort to making easy allusions and cheap comparisons in an attempt to talk about this Seattle-based two-piece, but we don’t reside in anything resembling a utopia, so you must bear with me here. Across each of the five ditties on this little release, the Southern-rock-tinged vocals alternately complemented and conflicted with the fuzzed-out guitar psychedelics, sounding at times like both a passable reinvention of the Allman Brothers (minus the big ‘70s guitar leads) or Jim James fronting a Jesus and Mary Chain cover band (not the most pleasant thought in the world). “Southern City Saturdays” coalesces all of those influences, and then balances them out nicely to create easily the best track on the project, while the title cut and “Locust Shells” has the overdriven, not-quite-droning guitar work unnecessarily drowning out the vocals far too often. I want to like these songs and this band, but there’s little in the way of sonic coherency and consistency to keep my attention for very long. Transient indeed…
August 15th, 2008 18:39
August 15th, 2008 19:28
August 18th, 2008 22:55
August 18th, 2008 23:11
April 26th, 2010 07:05