Fluxblog Weekly #124: Omni, The National, LCD Soundsystem, Ted Leo
September 4th, 2017
Because You Deserve It
Omni “Equestrian”
Omni is a contemporary band and “Equestrian” is a new song, but to my ears, it’s a dead ringer for the sort of playful, casually arty music you can find on Hyped to Death’s old Homework CD-R compilations of deeply obscure American DIY singles from the late 70s through the early 80s. If you’ve never heard these compilations, I recommended trying a few out. They make a strong case for the actual impact of English punk in America beyond the usual locales of New York City, Washington DC, and Los Angeles, and are full of great little songs that shouldn’t be essentially unknown. When I say this song reminds me of all that, it’s a compliment – it’s tapping into a very special energy and feeling that feels lost today, and I think it’s what Omni are aiming for as musicians. Part of it is in how they contrast rigidity in the rhythm with a bit of slack, so you get this tight herky-jerky structure but a loose, carefree vibe in the guitar and vocal. The lead guitar part is particularly alluring, and reminds me of the feeling of cruising around aimlessly in the suburbs at night.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
September 5th, 2017
This Must Be The Genius We’ve Been Waiting Years For
The National “Turtleneck”
This is actually the first time I’ve featured The National on this site in over 15 years of publication, aside from being included in survey mixes or mentioned in passing in other entries. I guess I was just waiting for them to rock more.
“Turtleneck” is an abrasive, rowdy rock song, and as such is a major outlier in the National discography. It reminds me a bit of The Afghan Whigs in particular, though Matt Berninger’s voice conveys very different things than Greg Dulli – there’s no trace of sexual menace or seedy glamor, but in its place you get an acute anxiety and agitation. Berninger typically speak-sings his way through songs at the bottom of his register, but here’s he’s up near the top of it, with the treble signaling exasperation and a sense of feeling trapped in obligations. The lyrics move in a few different directions, alluding to romantic trauma, bad teenage memories, and Trump-era terror, but the through line is embarrassment and degradation. It’s a song about reckoning with living at the mercy of other people, and losing faith in them entirely. Berninger doesn’t sound like a guy who takes any pleasure in being cynical and pessimistic. If anything, he sounds like he’s being destroyed by feeling that way, but has no other valid way of reacting.
Buy it from Amazon.
September 6th, 2017
Laughing At Everything We Thought Was Important
LCD Soundsystem “Tonite”
LCD Soundsystem’s American Dream has all the familiar components of an LCD Soundsystem record, but the feel of the music is different in ways that are not easy to articulate. It’s like having a set of ingredients for a recipe you know well, but changing up the cooking methods. Some parts have a very different character – there’s a lot of lead guitar parts through the album that indicate that James Murphy has spent much of the past few years obsessing over Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew – while the beats click and hit with characteristic precision.
Another metaphor: It’s all the same furniture, but rearranged, and with the addition of some accent pillows and maybe some new art on the wall. As if to say, “you can go home again, but it just feels a bit weird.” But the weirdness seems to be part of the point, and this greater feeling of loss and being lost and frustration and exasperation and doubt. James Murphy could – should? – be returning to LCD Soundsystem as a conquering hero, but instead he’s just as shellshocked and anxious and powerless as anyone else these days.
“Tonite” is the album’s banger, and the song that would’ve made the most sense alongside the group’s earliest material. It’s also the song where Murphy’s acute self-awareness seems to collapse on itself. The whole album is like him trying to talk his way through his feelings, like he’s doing talk therapy and hoping that he lands on something profound in his ramblings. There’s a lot of good observations in “Tonite” – the remarks about other artists’ music are clever, but as usual, it’s the lines about aging that really get under the skin. The big question this time around: If we can acknowledge that the current version of ourselves is probably the best one, or at least less embarrassing than previous attempts at getting it together, then why do we romanticize the past and youth so much? Sure, the clock is ticking, but we can at least try to go out on top.
Buy it from Amazon.
September 7th, 2017
This World Is Not For You
Ted Leo “The Hanged Man”
“Moon Out of Phase” opens Ted Leo’s first album in seven years, The Hanged Man with a heavy riff that sets up an expectation for a familiar sort of hard rock song but then leaves you in suspense indefinitely as you wait for the drums to come crashing in. They never do arrive, and the only percussion that makes it into the track is some gently ringing sleigh bells that keep the rhythm while Ted plays a brief solo.
I like this as a meta move signifying that things are different now, and that, yeah, it’s just Ted here, the Pharmacists aren’t around for this one. But it also sets up a lot of moods and themes for the record as a whole – life isn’t gonna go the way you want it to, sometimes you gotta make it your own way, disappointments can be opportunities. This is a great showcase for Ted’s voice, which hovers over the rhythm with a gentle grace at odds with the sludgy distortion on the guitar. He’s worked in this mode before on “Stove By A Whale” from the first Pharmacists record, but the absence of the rhythm section changes the dynamic completely – it ends up sounding less like metal and more like a private ritual, or a prayer.
Buy it from Amazon.