demons

You're Smiling Now, But We'll All Turn Into Demons

I’ve been wrestling with this review for a while now. I was going to just run to the keyboard and proclaim this as, “Not only the best album by ‘The Demons’, but also the best album this year,” but I stopped. I decided to give it a fair listen. I like to be really well versed in an album before I make such claims these days. This requires listening to it in different situations, like a kind of real-life soundtrack. I know it sounds stupid, but that’s how I rate ‘important’ albums, by how it filters into every-day situations, and how it ‘feels’…man.

This is, I think, the forth album by You’re Smiling Now But We’ll All Turn Into Demons, and their age is starting to show. I don’t mean that in a bad way; in fact I mean quite the opposite. I’ve always felt that the band have struggled to admit their addiction to huge Big Muff ridden riffs in recordings, and this album, like a junkie that’s been through a tough-love session, is their ‘coming-out’ record.

Opener ‘2009′ aurally punches you in the face with a super-fuzzed catchy riff, and we’re off. There is a familiarity present for any old fans, yet a nice  amount of confident and spacey solo work that surprises. Feeling comfortable with the opener, ‘Nervous/Alive’ suddenly throws a huge curve-ball. A fantastic ‘old-school-done-right’ riff is picked up and thrown into a huge psyche-rock vortex, and spat out the other side magically charged. Feeling a little shaken, you are then thrust into the drone-ridden-epic ‘Alpha and Omega’. It’s this track where you really notice how well the vocals sit alongside the music, and how much the band really have embraced the fuzz!

‘The Recidivist’  returns to the krautrock-soaked catchy riffage of the opener, and then turns off into what feels like a two-parter reinterpretation of a Brion Gysin exhibition in ‘Out of Focus’ and ‘Jammin’ on the 13th Floor’. Singer Richie’s vocals really take on a new focus, gelling perfectly with the mood of the music. ’Great Shakes Baby’ purposely forces you to nod your head along to the rhythmic drumming, and amazing wah-work, but it is the next track that ’seals the deal’ for me.

‘Cruikshanked’ is, put simply, great song-writing. The riff feels oddly familiar, yet is so clearly the  Demons. The vocals, one again, mesh perfectly with the music leaving an oddly intense feeling to the song. It then breaks off into a fun attack of sonic pleasure, returning for a second wave of intense, yet held-back riffing.

‘Prismatic Reflections’ almost feels like a bonus record. 18 minutes of truly spacey sounding, dare I say, ‘Desert Rock’  (odd, as they hail from the coastal town of Portsmouth). On completion of the track, you feel a bit like you’ve been through some kind of occult ordeal, up ‘The Holy Mountain’, or a part of an initiation of sorts.

This record feels like the album the Demons have always wanted to make, and I’ve always wanted to hear. So then, in closing: “This is Not only the best album by ‘The Demons’, but also the best album this year.”

Ken Eakins

Check YSNBWATID on Myspace, buy the record here.

nit-1

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I always think it’s a good sign when iTunes identifies albums genres as “Unclassifiable” as happens with this one. It is a fair point in this case as I would really struggle to define exactly what field these guys operate in. Opener “The Taste and Stink of Old Coins” throws you right in at the deep end with erratic guitars and drums that fall in and out of sync with each other. This might sound awful but it creates a sort of organic sound that is obtuse but compulsive. Vocals first appear as a Mark E Smith mutter but quickly develop into “scorched throat” shoutiness that is the only sensible vocal style to adopt with such fractured sounds. Second track “Gukurahundi” opens with spare picked guitar lines that are fleshed out with a driving but slightly off centre drum roll / beat, with some more background muttering that is effective but subservient to the music. This all leads to a manic face off between guitars and drums that vie with each other for attention but keep any kind of denouement well in hand. There are elements of Dillinger Escape Plan (without the blind ferocity) in the circling mathematical nature of the track. Its all about delayed gratification, which finally stars to arrive three minutes in with a sort of morse-code, disco-punk, mid-section of epic proportions which fades away into lo-fi jazz noodling. By the way lo-fi jazz noodling is a good thing, if you were wondering. Third track “Needs” really highlights the percussive nature of Nitkowski’s music, with their excellent drummer providing a lot of the structure to the music, which is then fleshed out and driven onwards by the guitars. It is incredibly asymmetric music, always chasing its own tail and fearful of anything like repetition or obviousness. Verse-chorus-verse this is not. Fuck knows how they would play it live.

All a blur

All a blur

At this point we are given a quick breather with “Mutha Terracist” one of those “lets muck about and see what funny noises we can get away with” tracks fashioned from some field recordings and simple studio wizardry. Not much to say about it but it did give my overworked brain a chance for a rest. “Two Above Zero” appears after this, shimmering with heat haze and a simple but exotic guitar line that made me rock back and forward like a mentaloid. More sparse vocals from the Mark E Smith school of thought appear about half way through, and lead us into a skewed and aggressive conclusion. “Rev Kid Perv Rap” sets out with what seems to be the Nitkowski trademark sound; syncopated guitar and drum parts that slowly build into the song proper with more lopsided guitars and whizz-kid drumming, but it seems to lack some of the direction of the other tracks. Maybe six minutes of this is just too much and my old and frazzled brain did not have enough RAM to cope, but this track never seems to coalesce into a satisfying whole, opting to remain a series of fascinating components.

A member of Nitowski imortalised in an etching?

A member of Nitowski imortalised in an etching?

Our second interval then appears in the form of the neolithic “Scrubbers”. The shambolic metronome approach is applied to a track that bumps along with a tom, kick and rimshot teamed with a minimal “air” synths. Simple, odd and fun. Next song “The Beveridge Report” is the track that introduced me to the band and it is a great starting point, showcasing all the things that they are good at to full effect. Atonal and racked with ADHD, it is a neurotic and slithery track that would still allow a good mosh for audiences that pay attention. An epic mid-section with truly pained sounding vocals and then all of a sudden were noodling again. Short and sweet, brash and memorable.

More classic song titles with the awesomely titled “Bite My Tongue And Do It For The Dogs” which really does sound like they threw the singer down a well for a week before lowering him a microphone. I hope he’s alright. While I have enjoyed everything thrown at me, it occurs to me that by this point in the album I am becoming slightly exhausted. It is music that requires constant attention to really extract the best out of it. Casual listening is not an option and my ears are starting to tire from the effort. “Alabaster Drive” is another entirely competent slab of twitching-muscle, art-rock but something has just occured to me. It seems like this band do not have a bass guitar. I could be wrong, but if I’m right they’ve managed to create a really full and memorable record on just two guitars and a set of drums and I didn’t even notice till the end of the last proper song. I think that makes me pretty fucking cloth-eared for someone who fancies themselves as a critic. Final track “Get A Job” is another slice of field recording and messing about with instruments that tails off with a funereal organ.

I really enjoyed this album. It is challenging without being pretentious, aggressive without being meat-headed and everything about it from the artwork to the pacing is pretty much perfect. It is maybe a little jumpy in some respects, and I suspect that the average Nitkowski gig might be a little bit of a bearded sausage-fest, but this band should be watched. If the world doesn’t suddenly implode in the next twenty minutes then they should have a very interesting and critically lauded career. Will they sell many records? Who knows, but they fucking should.

Kim Monaghan

Nitowksi on Myspace

Function Records

http://functionrecords.com

http://functionrecords.com

This 4 track eponymous EP is the first release by the band but they were together under a different name prior to this. Opening track “Am I Awake” begins with sweet and melancholy sounding guitars which are layered upon each other until joined by a simple piano line and solid but decorative bass and drums. It is at this point I hit my first snag, when the somewhat indie-ish vocals come in. As soon as the vocals come in, I turned off. Not because they are poorly done (although to my ears it is sung in a somewhat affected indie-kid style) but simply because I didn’t like them. This is obviously a bit of a problem when reviewing the EP, so having made my point about the vocals, I’ll stick to reviewing the rest of it. The song moves from melodic languor to a slightly out of place post-rock interlude, which then fades back into the opening verse accompanied by a well judged kids xylophone.

“Danger Danger” kicks off with an interesting riff that seems to come from somewhere between post-rock and power pop. Accomplished instrumental work piles on the professional pounds and despite not being musically to my taste, they are obviously a well practiced band who know their instruments and the sound they want to get from them. I would have to give particular credit to the drummer who seems to enjoy inserting little percussive flourishes in throughout which really add to the solid sound of the band.

“A Calendar Year” has more layered guitars and a drum driven intro. It occurs to me that high production values abound on this EP, if in a somewhat Spartan way. Simple studio techniques have given a fragile, minimal feel to the EP, but it also occurs to me at this point that the band is quite serious. There isn’t much respite from this and while I applaud bands taking music seriously, this EP is starting to make me think that if the band were going to film a video for one of these tracks, it would probably feature some of the following: leaves blowing about, empty beaches in winter and/or slow motion. Their quiet / loud / quiet approach is well handled but somewhat formulaic and the first similarities start to form in my mind; that the band are a sort of English Sigur Ros (minus the eccentricities and reverb) meets Explosions In The Sky (but with unnecessarily elongated vowel sounds).

“Leave Us Here” digs out the kids xylophone again but I’m starting to get the riffs muddled up. All this low-key, post-rock shoe-gazery is starting to become one in my mind. Thankfully the intro settles into an interesting and distinctly stylish verse which, after a quick burst of acapella “ba ba ba-ing” leads to the main body of the track which is propelled along by emotional instrumental work and some strangely exciting handclaps. This is the band operating at their best and all of a sudden you can see them headlining at Glastonbury or some such “music” festival.

This band is good. It is a pity I am utterly unmoved by their music. They have taken very few if any risks with this record and it strikes me as a record that has been strategically planned to attract as many listeners as possible by filing off any rough edges. There is nothing wrong with this, but personally, I want to listen to an album and come away feeling drained, disgusted or exihilarated. Not wanting a cup of tea.

Kim Monaghan

http://functionrecords.com

http://www.myspace.com/ofrosenberg