Black Forest

A-Frames, A-Frames | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 22, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sub Pop
• ASIN: B0007NMJEU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,753 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Seattle’s A-Frames bash out a bizarrely mechanistic, droning, minimalist, postmodern art-punk that steals equally from Amon Duul I, Chrome, Cramps, PIL, Pop Group, Swell Maps, and (the Australian) X. With such unerring taste, they could be a cover band and still entertain, but their short, steely, melodic originals stick in your head for weeks, like warning signals. Their third album, Black Forest suffers from over-production (this is a band that sounds best with Sonics-era sound), but just a wee bit. From a performance standpoint, the A-Frames are probably the most original punk rock band since the Screamers. The lyrics deadpan an unrelentingly dystopian vision of the future that seems solely cobbled from post-apocalyptic sci-fi flicks and comic books. Their songs are about machines turned against mankind, viruses out of control, surveillance technologies run amok, a world where humans have become extinct. Such schtick would quickly bore in lesser mortals' hands, but the oft-misunderstood A-Frames never lose face. There is something of Andy Kaufman in them, something very close to actual genius. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thee A-Frames, July 13, 2005

By 

Jeffums (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Forest (Audio CD)

First off let me just that when by giving this thing 4 stars i DON'T mean to discredit this album, it's just that 5 stars means it's gotta be perfect, and very few albums are, you know?. If you are unaware, this is the A-Frames third album, following 2002's 1 and 2003's 2. This is another phenomenal record, and by all means you should go out and buy this NOW. I don't really have anything to compare it too, although i'm sure comparisons exist, but to me the A-Frames have always had a unique sound all to themseleves.

This album starts out with one of three renditions of the title track. Each Black Forest version sort of builds off of the other, and are inserted at the beginning, middle, and the end of the record. The next three tracks, Experiment, Galnea, and Death Train are all classic A-Frames. The drumming by Lars is unbeatable, and has always been a staple of the sound. Track 6, Eva Braun, is a Screamers cover. The B-Side is filled with plenty more great tunes (sorry for lack of description), other than the throw out track My Teacher. However, cool story about that song is that every one who took a speaking part in it did so without knowing what the others would say, or how it would fit together in the end, so i guess it could have turned out A LOT worse. The B-Side of the album also contains the awesome song Negative, a tune that will hurt your ears at full volume (yea!). A really loud version of Black Forest finishes this thing off.

If I were to compare this to the other A-Frames records, i would say that this is a close tie to record #2, with the first one ahead by miles. The first A-Frames record is without a doubt one of the best things to come out this decade. (...). Scott S. can hook you up with those two on CD only (the vinyl will cost you a fortune). I reccommend buying anything you can find by the A-Frames, it will make your life better, NO JOKE. Finally, if you dig this you should check out these bands: The Intelligence (Drummer of A-Frames Lars's other band), The Dipers (Some sort of A-Frames connection), The Popular Shapes (Less of an A-Frames connection), and even the Factums (Do not have anything officially released to my knowledge but look out for em!). Yea.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rhymes cuneiform with uniform, August 27, 2005

By 

John L Murphy "Fionnchú" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Forest (Audio CD)

I had not read any Amazon reviews before buying this, but my reference points were Joy Division meets the Liars for the vocals, and a stripped-down PIL-Neubaten meets a more industrialized The Fall, if only for the latter's repetition. The standout tracks were Black Forest II and III, U-Boat, and Death Train, but the whole effort, packing a lot of variety into a few minutes. The primitive, clanking, robotic nature of this band makes for a love-hate relationship, but if you like the forebears and current-bears of this reconstruction of various proto- and post-punk 70s sounds, this is an excellent primer.

Like others, I have not been able to find out about this band's earlier two albums; perhaps SubPop will re-release them? With the support of a "major-indie" (sic) label, a fan base awaits, as many of us are finding out about this band only now due to the exposure given this record. Honorable mention: credited band members: Emphysema, Ricketts, and Cholera.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars it gets even better, March 9, 2006

By 

yuh-uhuh! (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Forest (Audio CD)

i've been following Aframes for a couple of years, seen them a few times and have spent hours talking to them before and after shows. first, i will have to say that aaron (guitars/vox) is a big, intense-looking mofo, barely talks and is about as shy as a person i've come across. first time i saw them, i seriously thought he was the roady. he was wearing a tie-die t-shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers. hardly a post-punk uniform. lars (drums) and ming (bass) look more the part and are both very personable. being a bass player myself - and loving ming's style - i've spent the most time talking to him, though lars is probably the most vocal guy in the band.

as for the poster who doesn't know much about the first two full-lengths: the first album is simply titled "A FRAMES" and the second is even more simply titled "2". "Black Forest" clearly has the most attention to production given to it, as it sounds the best out of the three. i highly suggest owning these two earlier albums, as they are as strong in completely different ways. "A FRAMES" is much more raw in sound, with a direct link to an apocolyptic future. one track is a love song ode to a survailence camera. "2" has a lot more energy and slicing and dischordant guitar sounds and basic raunchiness that is the core style of Aframes. at first listen, this album didn't do much for me, but now it's my favorite, even over "Black Forest' in all it's glory.

these two albums were put out on Dragnet. they also have some must-have 7-inches you can buy at their shows, which seem to come far and few between.

one influence that gets overlooked with this band is Sonic Youth. i hear lee renaldo guitars and thurston moore guitars/vocals over mark e. smith mostly, but i do not disagree with The Fall reference.