Axes
May 10
Too Pure
The influx of British culture into American society is everywhere these days: The Office, the Hitchhikers’ Guide, Spamalot, Bloc Party. It seems we’re desperate to import that cynical/depressed-yet-wacky attitude that plucky Americans are just too damn positive to produce themselves. Though Brighton’s Electrelane fly far under the radar of those cultural phenomena, they do nicely represent what we crave out of our Brits — their mostly instrumental post-punk is dark and spooky, and while a frenetic accordion or saxophone lead isn’t exactly a missile being turned into a potted petunia, they do throw in their fair share of zaniness. Their sound is, in fact, refreshingly different than what might be expected from four women who started out in 1998, amidst the shambles of Brit-pop and riot-grrrl. While they are informed by both these genres, they owe just as much to Fugazi, Tortoise, and even classical composition. Their third release, Axes abandons the poppier, lyrical sound explored on 2004’s The Power Out and returns to a challenging array of feverish instrumental jams. While typically after about three minutes of jam-outs I’d be snoring, there is, for better or worse, something so novel about the fact that women are doing the jamming that I can’t help but pay attention. Singer/multi-instrumentalist Verity Sussman’s rare vocal outbursts come in the form of strained shrills. Viewed in contrast to the accompanying instrumentation, though, they actually provide a much-appreciated hint of pop structure. That said, Axes isn’t for the squeamish — but then again neither is a killer rabbit that bites off people’s heads. And New York can’t get enough of that.
