Customer Reviews

The Loon

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

These guys are great because they evoke a lot of indie touchstones like Pavement, the Pixies, Violent Femmes, Archers of Loaf, some Talking Heads and even a little B-52s (the guitar stuff, not the singing). I am sure I am forgetting some other bands but you get the picture. And yet they have their own sound and deserve all of the praise they are getting. All of it. The music has no pretensions and a lot of heart and energy. And I can't believe I am the first one to post about this major indie record of 2006 (well, 2005 really). Pitchfork has it right about this one. Buy it.

i think this band is actually quite good. they dont have any sort of new sound per say, but i dont necessarily need something so new every single day. alot of things get tossed around these days, what with all the hype machines running, the blogospheres making music headlines, and pitchforks indie mega kingdom, s**t, the internet just made everything in the world readily available. so things move fast. and music is at the forefront, right behind the great technological beasts of our generation.

this album, is rock. it has some influences. we all do. if you started a band you would too. but what we do with those influences is more important than the mundane fact that we all have them. influences, that is....and the tapes n tapes might like the pixies, even. barely a better band on earth that ever existed, so i say props to tapes n tapes for diggin the pixies. but they dont souund redundant or anything. or derivative. (thats a favorite word for all you critics out there) they have good somegwriting skills. they throw a few styles together to make a good well rounded album.

a quick synopsis if you may...

"just drums" which is anything but just drums. the off kilter beat definitely drives the band through the most likely pixies reference on the album. nice jerky rhythms and a funky hoe down style chorus. the singers spoken-sung lyrics are good an used well. the break towards the end of the song is total classic rock build up. 10/10

"the illiad" a quirky song with a simple riff and some great vocals. it s short one. 8/10

"insistor" more great vocals, a little black francis styled, and more of the hoe-down guitar style. maybe if the pixies played at a rodeo. this is another pixies moment. 9/10

"crazy eights" instrumental that sounds like a western bar room gone surfing with trippy indie breakdown. not the best song on the album, but it has some redeeming qualities. the breakdown saves it. 7/10

"in houston" has a waltzy sort of swagger with some vibraphones and a little feedback build at the end. this song is quuite nice and has grown on me quite a bit. 9/10

"manitoba" is a sleepier affair, with twinkling guitars leading into another little build up at the end. 8/10

"cowbells" this is one of the great songs off the album. more black francis similarities can be made on the vocalist at the beginning, but by the time the chorus comes in with the kick drum and that choppy rhythm all the comparisons are off. the song takes a little punk sorta bridge before repeating the formula. the chorus is great. 10/10

"10 gallon ascots" this is mostly a slow song. its got a very strong pavement american-roots rock feel to it, a slightly annoying bridge and it all leads up to a cacaphonous end which wraps it up pretty nicely to save the day. 7/10

"omaha" this may be the best song on the album. its slow but has a great lurching military drum over a barely plucked guitar and some light strumming. awesome vocals and a great slow build that ebbs before it ever gets predictable. 10/10

"buckle" a synthesis of a rootsy american hoe down mixed with some post punk indie styling. i did not like this song at first but i now consider it essential to the album and also one of the better songs. it has a good solid melody and a catchy chorus 8/10

"jakov's suite" another highlight of the album. it starts of with a fugazi hook and builds like that for a few minutes at high energy, adding a little piano to leaven the rhythm a little then buzzing into a near frenzy before a little bridge that drops you off right in the middle of a heavy blues dirge that might almost be black sabbath and then quickly turns into a lazy loping indie rock track with a confident buzzing two guitar build up to the end. 10/10

that comes out to a 8.7, that technically equals at least 4 1/2 stars. it is a varied indie rock album with definite touchstones to the pixies and pavement but with a little more americana thrown in which could be because of their midwestern origins. the singers voice can be derivative but generally is its own thing, and when you can be comapred to frank black, well, that seems like a good thing to me....this album has grown on me over time and after seeing them live i have become quite obsessed. they are easily one of the best rock bands going around today and the album is a "must-hear" and certainly a band to see live...

I cannot stop listening to this cd!! There's not a bad song on the album,in my opinion. My favorite songs on it right now are "Cowbell" and "The Iliad". My last cd obsession was Wolf Parade's 'Apologies to the Queen Mary' and I'm diggin 'The Loon' just as much. Sure I hear some sounds of other bands,but hey...I like those bands too,so why wouldn't I pick this one up? The bottom line for me always is.....Are the melodies compelling and do they lift me emotionally and put a smile on my face? Do the lyrics intrigue me? Do I want to listen over and over? As far as "The Loon" goes, the answer to all those questions is YES. I've heard albums that were considered groundbreaking and completely "original" that bored me to tears. I love Radiohead but I found Kid A to be self-indulgent,plus it put me to sleep. Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music was supposedly unlike anything anyone had ever heard but its unlistenable to my ears. Every band has influences. Sometimes its not about reinventing the wheel but keeping a tradition alive. I happen to enjoy not only Tapes-N-Tapes but the whole stylistic tradition they've chosen to be a part of. If TNT are a little derivative(and who isn't) at least the music is quality. If you're gonna dismiss any band that borrows from others you're cd collection will be pretty slim!

Anthemic and cavernous guitar rock from the uber-indie Tapes 'n' Tapes. Nothing terribly original, here. Heavily informed by the likes of British Sea Power, the Arcade Fire, Spoon, the Walkmen, Interpol, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Tapes 'n' Tapes craft tastefully angular and unobtrusively moody toe tapping tunes that are equal parts melodic and energetic. Kind of generic and more than a little derivative, the Loon is nevertheless a decently listenable record, and sure to make every indie kid jump for joy.

For what it's worth, I hated it.

Upon first listen I was suprised by what I was hearing. I don't really hear a lot of the comparisons. What I do hear is some original, great rock. Take a listen, actually give it 10 listens and form your own opinion. I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised!!! This album has interesting, obtuse lyrics, unique shifts in time and catchy hooks. Well worth it!!

I enthusiastically encourange ANYBODY with half decent musical tastes to check out this CD...I've noticed the tracks are at the time of this writting unavailable for DL, which is unfortunate. This band blends good ol' Rock & Roll with Ethereal melodies & delicious vocals, and it's been in my CD player longer than any other CD this year. If you like the Pixies, Eagles of Death Metal, QotSA, Violent Femmes and/or Good music, please get this CD.

there is a lot of great stuff here. from johnny cash to the pixies, these guys know what to take from. while you might think their music is tame and boring at first, after enough listens it becomes incredibly endearing. I cannot stop playing this CD.

I will admit it took me a long time to get into The Loon. I had the album for over a year before any song but "Omaha" really began to make an impression on me. Now though the album as a whole has become an inextractable part of my daily routine. Usually I am wary of a Pitchfork-endorsed hype band, or esp. a Myspace-fueled blog band, but Minneapolis has consistently turned out amazing indie rock since the days of The Replacement and Husker Du, so I picked the album up. And after it wormed its way into my life, I am in love. Josh Grier's voice is quavery and definitely unique, and the band's broad swipe of genres creates an interesting context. Much has been made of the influence of bands like Modest Mouse, Wire, Pavement and the Pixies on Tapes 'n Tapes, and all are definitely apparent here, but the band does have a sound all their own. From the harrowing, lush waltz-pop of "Manitoba" (a chilling chronicle of the 1997 Red River Flood)to the sweet Caribou-like IDM-tinged keyboard of "Omaha", this is an album that is strikingly consistent for a new and disarmingly young band (Tapes 'n Tapes's drummer is just 20). Grier's lyrics are abstract and haunting, and certain jarring phrases will stick in your mind like poetic passages for days after hearing. "Cowbell" and "Insistor"'s frenzied acoustic pace would feel right at home on the Pixies' Surfer Rosa, while "Jakov's Suite" recalls Pavement's early 90s heyday and the crazed energy of Wire's early recordings. "10 Gallon Ascots" is also a highlight, the strongest case here for the Modest Mouse comparisons, and one in a series of songs on The Loon that is washed in a surreal abstract haze of feedback, experimental white noise and fuzzy distortion. All in all, a solid album from these Minnesotans that is well deserving of every accolade it garners. 4 and a half stars.

A three and a half star review would be more apropos. I heard about these guys through a local station here (near Minneapolis) when they were emerging on the local scene and thought they had a certain flavor. "Jakov's Sweet" introduced me to the band, a dynamic, bombastic track that ultimately is one incongruous piece in a very incongruous puzzle, namely The Loon. Pavement are the obvious precursors, but The Pixies are also evident throughout. The band has a knack for fun, clever guitar lines and a good deal of interesting accoutrements that one looks for in an indie recording, and I became especially drawn at times to the various basslines, sometimes hidden deep in the mix but nonetheless an active part of the album.
First and foremost, the band is ostensibly having fun, which is the cardinal rule in creating good left-field music, but they have a long way to go before they can usurp attention from indie mainstays like Clap Your Hands, Wolf Parade, etc. At the very least they might help elucidate the fact that Minnesota has a great deal to offer in terms of straightforward garage and indie acts.

Those that dismissed this record after one listen are idiots. There's a lot going on here. Many styles melded. Many obvious influences, some subtler ones, and that after all is what music is about -- there's really nothing original anymore, just scotch tape jobs of what already exists, and those that complain about this inevitability are wasting time. This record takes about 5 or so listens to truly appreciate (although the first listen is certainly pleasant enough). Also, the record builds -- the second half is much stronger than the first. The Arcade Fire took me about ten listens to really "get it." This album -- although not as great -- is comparable in that respect. Give this record the open mind and TLC it deserves before writing some pompous review about how it can't live up to the femmes or the pixies.