Feathers
Absolute Noon
Hometapes
Conceived as an EP tryptic, Feathers’ Absolute Noon is the first installment in the post-rock project. The five tracks on here combine into one gleeful grin, exuding optimism and positivity. It’s all bouncy rhythms and soft percolations like a glossy Volkswagen commercial or Katamari Damacy sequel. There’s a regular treasure trove of instruments at work here for band mainstays Eddie Alonso and Matt Crum to apply in liberal strokes to each song’s broad palette. Check out the infectious handclap breakdown mid-way through “My Apple Has Four Legs” or the almost-talk-box effect mumbling through “Old Cutler” for extended grins. Complementary melodies intertwine constantly with coronets acquiescing to sitars to synths. There’s little chance of these songs falling prey to repetition, which is funny as Feathers’ brand of post-rock is distinctly more cohesive than Tortoise – one of their obvious influences. Still it’s no surprise that band’s drummer/producer John McEntire helmed the recording process for these guys. My single criticism is the disc’s brevity. Maybe there’s a hugely incongruent stylistic shift in the band’s songwriting to warrant this kind of compartmentalization, I won’t know until I get my hands on number two, which I plan on doing as soon as possible.
Home Tapes: http://www.home-tapes.com
