STILL SINGLE

A space for thoughts on music and culture, as written by Doug Mosurock and a select handful of individuals. This is intended as a supplement to our regular feature Still Single, published on Dusted Magazine. Updates will run here more frequently, and may feature writing on music not covered in the column. Compact discs are still not accepted for review -- we have more than enough vinyl and the occasional cassette to worry about.

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November 25, 2009

Damage Pants – s/t LP (Bombay Cove)

Damage Pants LP

When two-pieces are interviewed, readers can always count on the “two people communicate better musically” excuse from the band, which can be read as “two people get paid more” or “it’s still a prop that audiences find entertaining.” And writers love to lean on the “it sounds like a full band” crutch, so one both parties get a back-scratching. Ever stop to think that “it sounds like a full band” because the duo is trying to cover up various weaknesses? Why is it that at some unimportant career juncture, pop/rock/garage-angled two-pieces feel as though they needed to release recordings with the overdubbed, multi-tracked density of Spiritualized or Mercury Rev, while the metal-angled duos behave SLIGHTLY better but still overcompensate into Melvins or stock four-piece crust/doom territory? Because they can’t make this record. When Death from Above 1979 got momentarily famous by dumbing-down godHeadsilo and C/Average for the masses, they were probably hoping to sound something like Damage Pants’ debut LP. They failed, but now the successful heir to the 90’s duo-thud, proto-indie-metal trailblazers is here, steadily blowing one mind at a time since the album was released all the way back in June. This band is great, so no Dubious Hype Machine was called in to attempt media saturation. The Termbo/HoZac/Goner Army overlooks or dismisses Damage Pants because they operate outside the acceptance boundaries dictated by some nebulous power, or perhaps it’s simply because neither one of these guys was in a shitty plural-noun band before forming the pinnacle of two-man rock-pummel superiority. This record is big and loud but never belies the two-piece instrumental engine at its core. Vocals are yelped or screamed or quivered yet the songs contain good instro-hooks that keep the affair from easy “noise-rock” classification. Not only is this record refreshing, it’s also comforting … everything’s not completely screwed. People can still make albums like this. (http://www.bombaycove.com)
(Andrew Earles)

2 years ago • 0 notes