Customer Reviews

Christian the Christian

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This cd is great. Like Menomena, the feeling of the album contrasts current "indie wonders" with its slightly irratic yet melodic feel. Overall it feels like a some sort of adventure park ride: dipping, looping, crashing, spinning. When the ride stops the guilt catches up.

For those of you not in the know Lackthereof is Danny Seim's original under the radar "band" and creative outlet since before his involvement with Portland's indie sensation Menomena. Danny is primarily a drummer but takes on the role of multi-instrumentalist as Lackthereof's sole member with a staggering and hard to find back catalog under his belt.

I will freely admit that I'm biased, and with good reason. Danny's music is exceptional but I can see how many are going to find it "bleeding edge" and inaccessible. It's some of the most intensely personal music I have heard in a long time. It feels like something that you were never meant to hear like a leaked demo that should have never seen the light of day. The fact of the matter is it was freely released and both compelling and inspired. This really needs to be heard by more people.

If you're looking for "Christian" music then look elsewhere, I would hate for anyone to judge this book by the cover as it's quite the contrary. On this album Danny explores the warped sensibilities of his fundamentalist Christian upbringing and attempts to reconcile the damage. It's a common theme in his music but it's most realized on this album. It's intense and quite painful in areas and captures the isolation of cognitive dissonance. You're going to want the lyrics sheet for this one and thankfully it's included.

Musically it's perhaps best described as avant-garde pop or rock but its genres are hard to pin down. The album is structured around Danny's excellent and melodic drumming with sparse use of electronics, acoustic guitar and occasional bass with other atmospheric elements thrown in as you might expect from one third of Menomena. The title track is a distortion heavy classically styled grunge-rock song and very good.

Danny's fractured vocals jump around from high to amazingly low at the drop of a hat. The various vocal styles which both harmonize and challenge each other are amazingly creative and usually are off-center in the mix. Most artists would find this too cheesy or gimmicky to attempt but Danny has never been content to play it safe here and it really works well.

What's most refreshing in Danny's albums is the complete lack of artistic pretense with little expectation of commercial success. Memomena it is not but I can't see why this wouldn't appeal to most indie music fans looking for something truly authentic.

If you're new to Lackthereof then also pick up the recent "Your Anchor" album as it is likely the most accessible and also excellent.