Zillionaire
The Street Lights Have Been Turned Down
New Granada
Tampa, Florida is an odd locale for the glacial, plodding sounds of Zillionaire to rise up from. Their sparse and decidedly unhumid tropes are much more in line with slow-core progenitors like Low and Codeine than anything remotely influenced by the stereotypical Floridian club culture. Heavy slow rhythms dominate much of this album’s sound; even the melodies stack up at most an octave higher than the bass. Thankfully, the group is more willing to play with their pacing than their sonic forefathers, tracks like “Loose Leaf” have some NYC post-punk running through their nervy veins and “Tonight Will Be Alright” slips easily into the fluidity of math rock ellipses. These tracks end up working much better than when slow-core’s silent stretching dynamics are more closely adhered to. The seven-minute centerpiece “Jesus Told Me So” rides the low E string for close to its entirety and comes off like a long-winded exhale until its fire-breathing finale. Bands like Early Day Miners have done so much more both texturally and dynamically using the same template Zillionaire is working with. Ultimately, the sprawl of their slower, longer songs are what does this album in. To hold a listener’s interest for 70+ minutes is a tall order for even the most innovative and engaging bands, and sadly, Zillionaire is neither at this point in its career.
New Granada Records: http://www.newgranada.com
