BeatRoute Magazine B.C. print e-edition - May 2016

Hooded Fang - Venus on Edge Jessy Lanza - Oh No Parquet Courts - Human Performance
Tim Heidecker
In Glendale
Rado Records
Tim Heidecker (Heidecker and Wood,
The Yellow River Boys, Tim & Eric) is
well known in comedic circles for his
nuanced satire and goofball characters.
He’s also no stranger to the music studio.
In Glendale marks successful emergence
for Heidecker, with his first
earnest collection of songs produced
under his full name. The “post-normcore”
overtones and, at times, banality of
the subject matter, do not disappoint at
painting a picture of the humour in young
fatherhood and domestic obligation.
Heidecker opts for the sound he is
most accustomed to: a mix of ‘70s-inspired
singer-songwriter ballads, bar
rock and Americana that both charms
and burrows in after listening.
Title track, “In Glendale,” is upbeat with
blaring horns and lush, layered backing
vocals that wouldn’t be out of place on a
Van Morrison track. “Work From Home”
is a half-speed hangover anthem with
flourishes of Wurlitzer and subdued stabs
of horn. “Ghost In My Bed” posits acoustic
macabre as a viable sound by way of lively
acoustic strumming and ghoulish lyrics.
There’s a brief encounter with Nicholas
Cage, a Yankee Hotel Foxtrot kind
of outro, an ode to central air, and tales
of struggling Californians. And though
Tim Heidecker skirts the line of sincerity
and comedy with In Glendale, he ensures
banality and surrealism are never at odds.
• Mike Ryan
Hooded Fang
Venus on Edge
Daps Records
It’s been three years since Hooded
Fang’s last album, Gravez. Accordingly,
their jaw-dropping new full-length
Venus on Edge doesn’t waste a moment
rocketing off. “Tunnel Vision” has the
patented bounce of a Hooded Fang song,
but with much higher tension and fidelity
than the band has showcased in the
past. As twin razorwire guitars shriek
out against the palpitations of the bass
line, vocalist Daniel Lee yelps out: “We
sleep! To Drown! Inside! That sound!”
It’s not even the most dizzying charge
on the album. The surf- and psych-tinged
riffs propelling Hooded Fang towards a
crash are almost impossible to imagine
being played by human fingers. A personal
favourite is “A Final Hello,” a track
that sounds like a sped-up version of the
performance from Revenge of the Nerds,
except with way, way more lasers. Even
“Plastic Love,” which plays at being a
case of post-sunstroke disorientation, hits
a searing sweet spot at the intersection
of psych and savagery. It really helps
the songs that Venus is such a step up
in fidelity. Every time an effect is used
or the pace takes a sudden turn, you can
discern that this is no accidental chaos.
Venus on Edge charges at the listener
at full pace, but makes enough exciting
zigzags to keep its mystique in tact. In
this reviewer’s opinion, it’s already one
of the finest rock records of the year.
• Colin Gallant
Jessy Lanza
Oh No
Hyperdub
Jessy Lanza seemingly came out of nowhere
with her icy smooth debut Pull My
Hair Back in 2013. Based out of Hamilton
and coming out of the gate as a Hyperdub-approved
artist drew attention from
all corners of the globe, including a nod
for the 2014 Polaris Prize. Three years
later, she’s back in even finer form.
Sonically, similarly crisp drums, wet
bass and breathy vocals make up the bulk
of the album. Where Lanza most shows
growth is in mastery of mood. Opener
“new ogi” centers on a visceral synth
arpeggio, and leaves the listener wanting
more by the end of its short two minutes.
It’s a strategic holding pattern: at the
moment of the song’s sudden conclusion,
“vv violence” begins with a hop-scotch
lyrical taunt from Lanza. “Got to say it
your face but it doesn’t mean a thing.”
It’s an ultra taught track that makes for
an early highlight while foreshadowing
some of the pacing tricks to come. After
club-centric “never enough” comes the
blurry, opioid yearning of “i talk BB,” a
removed yet fed-up plea to a lover to
shut up and listen. Compared to Pull My
Hair Back’s somewhat vague slow jams,
the slow pace of Oh No’s downer numbers
feels much more confident. To no
surprise, the highest point comes with
lead single “it means i love you.” It’s a
brilliantly balanced track, walking the
line between 2 a.m. club fare and private
dances in unlit bedrooms. It’s at this
intersection that Lanza sits on a throne,
unchallenged in her rule of electro-pop’s
ability to be personal and communal.
• Colin Gallant
Little Scream
Cult Following
Dine Alone Records
Building on the wandering first album
Gold Recordings, Cult Following expands
on a theme a self-exploration by using
an eclectic orchestra with an assortment
of collaborators. Among them are the
likes of Mary Margaret O’Hara, Sufjan
Stevens, Sharon Van Etten, Aaron and
Bryce Dessner (of The National, who also
worked on her first album), Owen Pallett,
Kyp Malone and finally, Little Scream’s
long time producer Richard Reed Parry.
Rather than changing tones suddenly,
songs lead into one another so seamlessly
you may miss the title change. The
album, perhaps slightly more cohesive
than the last, breathes a slowly evolving
air. What starts off as a dandy Scissor
Sisters-like album with “Love as a
Weapon,” quickly becomes a speculative
art-pop breakdown of relationships and
sentiment with swelling instrumentation.
Comparisons to St. Vincent and
Hundred Waters are not quite right but
true of Little Screams’ use of discordant
guitar ornamentation, layers and lively
vocals. On the whole, however, this is a
different project that follows the impulse
to capture larger-than-life emotive
magic that slips from state to state.
• Arielle Lessard
Lyrics Born
Now Look What You’ve Done, Lyrics Born!
Mobile Home Recordings
With over two decades of hard work and
constant production as an artist in the
more obscure reaches of hip hop, Lyrics
Born has added another album to his ever
growing discography, “Now Look What
You’ve Done, Lyrics Born!” This time
around, the self-styled ‘Funk 4 The Future’
artist has complied a collection of 16
tracks into a greatest hits album to prove,
once again, that he’s a heavyweight in the
underground scene. Brought to life with a
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