I once read an album or band described as "post alternative." For me, that phrase conjures images of space suits and weird digital soundscapes. Something to which you might listen and feel smug and inflated, experiencing something that others aren't....
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I once read an album or band described as "post alternative." For me, that phrase conjures images of space suits and weird digital soundscapes. Something to which you might listen and feel smug and inflated, experiencing something that others aren't.
From the moment I listen to ANY Brainiac, I get this sensation. From
Smack Bunny Baby to
Hissing Prigs in Static Couture (and probably
Bonsai Superstar, in the chronological middle, the most), Brainiac creates something remarkable. But, if you walked in haphazardly, it might be too, um, remarkable.
Electro-shock for President is the Brainiac for the uninitiated.
Definitely a product of the end of their short career,
Electro-shock is 14 minutes of Brainiac perfection. "Fresh New Eyes" is an abrasive working of strengths: bizarre lyrics, unorthodox instrumentation, and those odd soundscapes and feedback. It's hard to describe the transition from its sparse beginning to the incision it makes in you over the course of two minutes. Following is what I might call a typical "album track." "Flash Ram" is a song, in the traditional sense. It has a chorus and builds from oddly textured vocals and real emotion. But, to me, it's glue. It's what Tim Taylor and company performed to create an album.
These two songs then give way to three tracks of soundscapes. But, where others may say these become some sort of filler, I believe them to be an essential part of the whole experience. They're full of entertaining noises, half-vocals, obscured background talking, and music. This is where you start to feel smug. Yes, you are special for having found this.
Then, you're hit with the "the single." Brainiac ended their first album with a piece ("Get Away") that just owns you with its distinction. This does the same, in the "mature" Brainiac fashion. "Mr. Fingers" is as impassioned and hard edged as Brainiac gets, and the thump of the bass line during the final minute separates it from "ordinary" music. Rattle the walls with "Mr. Fingers." Scare someone.
Of course, I have been teasing with images of grandeur and intellectual superiority. Brainiac is an aggressive, loud, and supremely inventive band. And,
Electro-shock for President is a wonderful example of the mood they were capable of creating. But, listening to this Dayton band is not like listening to some great piece of jazz or classical music; the musical intelligentsia probably wouldn't be too impressed.
I would be. But, they probably wouldn't.
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