EP Day – South Ambulance, The Grizzly Owls, Still Life Still, Zs

(Editor’s note:  Our inboxes have been packed to the brim lately with EPs.  There doesn’t seem to be a linear explanation for this recent explosion in the arrival of three to six song records, but I’m fond of being able to digest some sort of artistic statement in twenty or so minutes.  The EP is a perfect record for the early summer months: mildly distracting and distractible, a small chunk of music that you can listen to on a short walk or over an al fresco dinner (or, more realistically, cocktail).  Further, they’re often cheap or free (three of our selections today can be heard in their entirety for zero dollars).  James mentioned re-mixes as his hallmark of sunshine; I’m not that hip.  Give me EPs and their implications about the length of my attention span.)

Sweden’s South Ambulance will be pumping out three EPs this year (of which this is the second), lending some credence to our fondness for the form.  The third track on 5 is worth the 2.5 Euros that this thing costs all on its own.  (Anybody have a conversion?  I’m not an international business major, but this seems like a deal.  And it’s streaming for free if you’re a total cheapskate.)  “What the Doctor Said” is a near-perfect four minutes of indie pop; the bouncing bass line, softly delineated harmonies, catchy-as-hell melody  and spiraling, gorgeous closing moments make this track a total winner.  The rest of the EP offers treats as well; the titular track, below, has the kind of slowly building introduction of new sounds and ideas that compels close attention.  For most of the song you’re waiting for an explosive, emotion filled crescendo; by the time it arrives, it’s snuck up so subtly that you almost miss it.  That’s fairly deft musicianship.  One of the things that is appealing to me about the EP format is my relative lack of emotional and temporal investment; if there’s a song or two that doesn’t catch the fancy, it’s not like you’re in the middle of a twelve song rock opera or anything.  I’ll cop to not loving 5’s fourth track, but that’s small potatoes when it’s held against the soaring hookiness of a track like “Circling with Thee.”  As with “What the Doctor Said,” it’s got some killer harmonies and a guns blazing conclusion. (Swedes know how to finish a song for sure.)  The quality of 5 has me eager for 6.

“Dear Mutiny” – South Ambulance

The Grizzly Owls are likely to provoke a strong reaction.  You’re going to really dig the sound from the jump or it’s going to be clear quickly that the Bakersfield group are not your bag at all.  I’m a fan, for instance, while James isn’t.  We made those determinations in the first thirty seconds or so “Father of the Revolver.”  I’m apt to say that this sort of polarization is a good thing.  No less a source than the New York Times recently commented that “much indie rock is essentially conservative, juggling a handful of retro signifiers — Pixies meet Pavement, Spacemen 3 meet Kraftwerk, and so on.”  This implies, to me, a sort of unwillingness to take risks on the part of some of our mainstreamier “indie” artists.  Who doesn’t love the Pixies?  Who doesn’t love albums that sound just enough like the Pixies?  (I’m not naming names, but we know who we’re talking about here right?  I mean is no-longer emerging artist X really breaking new ground, or just acting hip, kissing the right asses and sneering in the right publications?  As always, I acknowledge that I’ve never made any art, but when I do, you can bet your ass that it will be the least derivative thing ever made , mostly due to my lack of any talent, but whatever.)  The Grizzly Owls, on the other hand, have big brass balls.  Their sound clearly owes a bit of a debt to any number of countrified folk acts, but their unswaying dedication to that sound and their willingness to carry it to the nth degree  are impressive.  The tracks on the freely available I am a Shootist EP all prominently feature the high, warbling vocals of Jenny Andretti in front of spare, spaghetti western-esque soundscapes.  That cowboy on the cover is no joke; these tunes are intensely evocative of barren desert landscapes, lawless bastards and circling vultures.  It’s a pretty unified artistic vision, complete with deeply morbid lyrical content (the number of people that get shot, stabbed or hung from trees in this EP’s four songs is too high to count accurately.)  All that taken into account, the tunes here are catchy and relistenable.  I’m particularly fond of the Pancho Villa feel of “Save My Soul Conquistador.”  If the track below piques your interest, the rest of the EP is well worth three or four clicks.

“I Am a Shootist” – The Grizzly Owls

There are only three tunes on Still Life Still’s Pastel, but they’re being issued by venerable Canadian label Arts & Crafts and were produced by scene-darling Kevin Drew.  Seems like a fairly convincing pedigree.  The EP will be available on June 16, in advance of a full-length sometime in the fall.  These three tracks are going to be tough to get out of your stereo while you’re waiting for more material.  “Pastel” is a jangly, hook-laden power pop anthem that manages to sound smart and catchy at the same time.  It’s a dense sound, with a lot of things moving in a lot of directions, which is used to great effect when the band strips of some of those layers.  The repeated lyrical plea “I really want to be serious” leads to an explosive final thirty or so seconds, where the guitars come on hard and some electronic deedly-doots enter the picture.  It’s a winner.   The second track “80s on TV” is a bit more straightforward balladry, but the detailed flourishes are endearing, notably the turntably sound in the middle.  The EP’s closer, “Aid” starts with a weird sound collage (laughing clown, collapsing spring…) that builds in tempo until the guitars kick in.  The drum work on that track is notably good.  It also features one of my favorite tricks,  the long intro, (1:37 before there are any vocals) before some emotionally delivered lyrics.  You can hear the three tunes on the band’s myspace page.  We’ll keep you updated on details about the full-length.  We’re waiting with bated breath.

“Pastel” – Still Life Still

Our last offering on EP Day is not available for free listening on the internets.  (We can’t even share a track.  We promise we’ve listened to the whole thing.  We do not, unfortunately, have the green light to hit you with a song.  We believe it’s because there are only two songs on the EP, broken into three movements each; giving you some would maybe defeat the artistic purpose of the record.  Or they’re just being mean.  In either event, we’re going to cool our jets until they approve a track to share.  Look at the album cover.  We mess with these dudes and they will track us down with their army of hydrophobic skeletons.  Pass.)  Zs Music of the Modern White is a sweeping, angular, aggressive, post-modern, alt-alt jazz suite.  It opens with terrifyingly clanging metallic drums (imagine robots firing guns made out of other robots and you’re close) before blazing, atonal saxophones drone into the mix, laying down waves of harsh sound until the drums fade out.  This kind of stab you in the ear hole approach holds for much of side one, which is broken into three sections.  The second begins with alternately ethereal and screaming white noise (think of a bandsaw being run by Beelzebub in a warehouse full of bats and you’re close) that eventually fades into synthesizer driven white noise.  There’s not a lot of humming along on side 1.  Side 2 offers some sweet horn work and some syncopated clapping and seems less designed to make your eyeballs bleed.  Overall, this is the kind of EP that you listen to not because you’re driving to the beach, but because you really understand Sartre.  I like its unflinching individuality.  I like its difficulty.  I like its aggression and intelligence.  We’ve got a video below that gives a taste of what Zs are about, but you’re going to have to hear Music for the Modern White for yourself.  It’s out on The Social Registry on July 7th.  In the event that we can share something with you in the future, we will.