Robedoor – Pacific Drift 7” EP (Not Not Fun)
Did I just listen to the beginning of a song for three, maybe four, minutes, only to have it “end” with my needle lifting? Yes, and it’s also known as the title track. Side B has two disparate chunks of reverb & wah-pedal & pounded quasi-jazz-cave drums appreciation sessions, both surgically removed from that jam….wait….what night was that? Oh yeah, Zach hung the upside-down cross on the wall and the two other dudes felt the evil vibes. Then they got online and made fun of that guy in Morbid Angel that’s into all the positive-power new-age gobbledygook, then they listened to some stuff on the Century Media and Relapse sites that had funny names, universally declaring all of it “a lot of hilarious bullshit” before setting the mics, choosing some axes, and impersonating an imaginary “welcome back” Comets on Fire gig that took place immediately after each member suffered from a near-fatal bout of spinal meningitis. This is on Not Not Fun, where Robedoor’s otherwise blasé attitude towards tightness and focus on the jam fits right in, but also where the volume of this record, while not notable in the grand scheme of things, does place it with the noisier half of that label’s roster. The three gentlemen in the band are pictured on the back cover, where they deftly demonstrate how to combine the style seen in Tad’s “Wood Goblin” video with one represented ten years later at a Locust show … while staring at different points on the floor. Caution! Blown Minds Ahead! (http://www.notnotfun.com)
(Andrew Earles)
