by Darren Keen
I immediately liked the interesting mid-fi production of Razors' album. It's a band made up mostly of Alek Erickson from the band Dads, and it's experimental and fearless. Blown-out kicks, weird guitar tones, effected drums and panning tricks help dress up this collection of psychedelic, folky music.
The vocals are one of the only areas where this is problematic for me. I enjoy the delivery, and in general, the vocals are in tune without sounding like an American Idol contestant, which fits the music well, but too often the lyrics are unintelligible, due to effects and/or a mumbled delivery that kills any possibility of having "a hook.”
My biggest criticism of this record is the sequencing. The first couple songs were not super strong, and despite having some really cool vocals, "The Trees" didn't cut it for me as a closer. The album’s strongest song, "Sea is Red," is one of the best tracks I have ever heard come out of Nebraska. If the album had opened with it, or if it had been near the beginning of the album, it would have solidified the experimental nature of the record, instead of slowly revealing the madness.
Darren Keen is a musician performing under many monikers including Bad Speler and The Show is the Rainbow. He is also preparing for his festival, Good Speakers Fest, on March 9 at The Bourbon, Yia Yia's and Mix Barcade. Reach Darren at dkbadspeler@gmail.com.
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