Customer Reviews

Joy Zipper

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

 

 

Joy Zipper are essentially boyfriend and girlfriend Vincent Cafiso and Tabitha Tindale, with a drummer in tow. These songs are lo-fi, some not much more than demos, and they sound hazy and angelic for the most part.

The two sing their parts, vocals intertwining, Vincent's standard indie drawl and Tabitha's truly stunning voice -- technically not so good but she exudes innocence: her lines sound like they're being sung by an 8-year-old. She sings lines like 'Our death is inevitable' like she's saying 'I love you'.

The sticker on the front of my copy says it's like 'Kim and Thurston from Sonic Youth reciting Pet Sounds to each other as pillow talk' and that's probably about right.

When everyone else is sitting on the grass on a summer's afternoon, chilling, and listening to the usual pop or R+B pap, this is the album fans of Sebadoh or Pavement should be playing.

The only downside is in the latter part of the album where we get some freak-out psychedelic mush. Just doesn't fit the mood.

Anyways, buy it, it's dreamy and happy and mellow all at once.

One of my greatest finds of all time. The album takes you through a story, starting with dreamy laid back music, continuing to mellow songs as you relax to the music.

From people I've played the music too all agree it is a great cd and worth every penny.

Shame about the delay (or possible deletion) of there latest album American Whip.

As someone who follows pop music very closely, this fully realized album by Joy Zipper (couple Vincent and Tabitha, now married) came out of nowhere and blew me away. One review explained it as "Kim and Thurston from Sonic Youth reciting Pet Sounds to each other as pillow talk", but I believe the more apt comparison to think of is Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher from My Bloody Valentine. At the risk of sounding pretentious, this is the first album I have heard since My Bloody Valentine's Loveless that captured the everyday beauty and fragility of life and love, yet the sound is totally their own.

With references to God, android memories, Alan Watts, and hallucinogens along with the more mundane, the music successfully conveys the incomprehensible beauty and darkness of our existence. Among the songs I love that are very accessible are "Christine Bonilla" (track 5), the instrumental "Pan Moota" (track 6), and the very catchy "The Power of Alan Watts" (track 11).

Their second album, 'American Whip' was just as inspired (possibly more inspired and realized) as their first album. (Not surprisingly Joy Zipper was embraced in the United Kingdom where they are better known.) They managed to balance the light and darkness again hitting on topics such as Christmas, Alzheimer's and suicide. They pull it off and make you glad to be alive and conscious in this incomprehensibly lovely/scary/absurd universe.