Wednesday, September 29, 2010

#184 Buke and Gase - Riposte

Reviewed on Dusted. Getting back to my roots.

Man and woman invent baritone ukulele (buke) and guitar/bass hybrid (gase). Also some improvised hybrid drums. Put on (I'm told) impressive live shows. Sound great on album too. What more do you need to know? Either that kind of conceptual thing turns you on or it doesn't.

Ok, ok, fine. The actual music. Its pretty great. Complex, propulsive, uncomfortable. Sounding not unlike a more acoustic, mellowed Deerhoof at times, sort of like Menomena in their subtly not-of-this-world sound, at others. The improvised instrument thing matters, damn it. The overall tone of this album is just different, and their background trying to perform these complex songs live as a duo has caused them to take some curious songwriting turns - restrictions breed creativity, after all. And the end result is compelling - if you like slightly off-kilter, experiential, but still totally listenable rock, give it a go 4.5/5

No comments:

Post a Comment