Chad Valley – Equatorial Ultravox 8.1

                I first heard of Chad Valley about a month or so ago. When I heard the fifth track on here “Fast Challenges” I felt pretty excited. Here was an artist going back to the proud tradition of trance pop from the early 90s. Unlike some others working in the same sound, he deftly avoided any trace of irony. No, his work sounded fairly genuine, heartfelt even. 

                “Reach Lines” is truly great. The sound is pristine. I’m a little blown away. I mean, here we have all these artists obsessing about creating a lo-fi sound to impress others. Listening to it I’m reminded of a sweet Washed Out track. Vocals come from far away. Just for those not convinced, they bring out the vocoder. Oh this makes me happy. 

                With the full album, I’m reminded a bit more of the nostalgic vibes everyone’s been surfing on lately. Chad Valley’s work succeeds with the sheer smoothness of delivery. All those vocals make up most of the sound, taking up huge amounts of space. Vocals are more of an instrument than mere backup. This isn’t a bad thing; countless artists (Cocteau Twins) have convinced me of the importance on focusing of the texture of the sound. Besides, this is in English unlike the Twins’ made-up language. 

                Actually, most of the album explores the 80s more than that teaser “Fast Challenges” hinted. I’m not bothered by this fact. You’ll probably politely hum along with most of this album. The warmth it contains makes it pretty hard to dislike. Even the melodies are infectious.

                Of course, there are a lot of bands using a similar sound. Immediately the group “Games” comes to mind. Like Games, it stays true to a pop format, with all seven of these songs staying within five minutes or less. Similar to Games, it explores the myriad percussion and synthesizer pads. But the main difference is the more human approach to pop. The experimental impulse of the sound is kept in check by the human vocals. It’s a great summer album. Shame he isn’t coming to the US.

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: Mirror Traffic

                Pavement’s breakup might have been one of the toughest things to witness. For nearly an entire two years we had to wait for new music from Stephen. Thankfully it sounded basically exactly like old Pavement. Everyone felt happy. I was glad to see it was Stephen with a different backing band. Perhaps everybody in Pavement ended up hating Stephen writing the songs and wanted him to leave. When Stephen found the Jicks, they must have been thinking “Sweet, Stephen writes the songs and we ride his coat tails for a couple of years.”

                Those couple of years has become a full decade. Some people consider the Jicks to be one of the luckiest backing bands ever. Legend has it Stephen found them in a boring part of the Midwest working as a “Led Zeppelin” cover band called “Boron Blimp”. Once they had finished their set and planned on returning to their vans/homes, Stephen offered them indie glory (back when indie meant indie and not ‘Grammy Award Winners’). Jumping at the chance the two have been inseparable. A few people have created a nickname for the relationship with Stephen and the Jicks: they are also known as “Little Boo Peep and the sheep.”

                I remember the joy I’ve had with Stephen’s solo project. One of the first songs I ever played on my radio show was “Pencil Rot” brand new, ready to be unleashed on the college airwaves. Actually, I was offered the extremely lucrative position of unpaid head of the college radio station but being shy I declined. Now I think back to those days of doing nothing but digesting perhaps unhealthy amounts of music looking for the next kick with a tinge of nostalgia. Compared to then I barely listen to any new music. 

                Later on I got to see Stephen play live at the Siren Music Festival in 2008. I talked up how good his performance would be to my friends. Thankfully you did not disappoint me. Seeing you made me realize how people preserved their cool for decades. You’re from the 90s, your music makes that abundantly clear. Each time I hear you it is revisiting the 90s all over again.

                Your newest album comes out on August 23^rd called “Mirror Traffic”. One track is available for streaming thus far though I expect it will leak sometime in late July/early August. Perhaps you’ll benefit from a ‘90s wave’ I see approaching us with the disinterest of millions of slackers. I mean you even used Beck as your producer, if that doesn’t scream 90s, I don’t know what does. The first track you’ve given us sounds like every other track you’ve ever written for any band you’ve ever been a part of. Consider that as the highest compliment. When so many musicians change their styles over and over again, others make essentially the same (or similar) albums. Each release might be interchangeable with any other. 

What will the critical reaction be? Honestly, I think it might not be that receptive. Since Pavement is now a rather old (but not too old band) their most adamant fans have stopped being music reviewers and moved on to actual real jobs. Not being old enough means they have not yet been considered a major influence for enough up and coming bands to receive warm praise from younger generations. Their most dedicated fans tend to avoid online leaks, so when the album leaks (as all albums do) people will not have enough time to properly hype it. Instead the reviewer will give it some sort of ‘mediocre’ or ‘meh’ review. To escape this fate would require a great deal of work on Stephen’s part and Stephen isn’t known for anything approximating hype or work. 

Pavement changed my life. Stephen’s later career work, while not in the same realm as his original work, still satisfies a certain need. In the probable case he reverts back to his old sound I’ll be perfectly happy. But if he decides to confound expectations and release an album harking back to Pavement’s glory days, I’ll be ecstatic. Either way I’m happy.  

Archers of Loaf

                 Yeah, I’ve been holding my breath for some massive 90s revival. I call it a revival since so many of the 90s bands had such a devoted following, bordering on the religious.  Every album I have from the early 90s I’ve studied fairly well whether it be Post-Rock (Slint) or the embodiment of indie rock perfection (The Pixies). Both of those bands have since gone touring, along with smaller bands with more rabid fan bases (Polvo in particular, where one fan flew from the Midwest just to see them rock out at Brooklyn Bowl).

                There’s one group I want to see return: the slackers. I miss slackers a lot; I grew up with some of them. Now they either got productive or remained in their parents’ basements. Slackers created some sweet tunes, perhaps some of my favorite music of all time. Now I’m not saying that I’m upset Pavement has returned to us, that is a good start for the slacker wave, but not really the definition.

                No, I’m talking about those bands that will never come back to us. Ones who got busy, got money, and will thus fail to return to us. So when I see one of those ‘Jesus, I never thought you’d return’ bands do so, I’m usually fairly psyched. If they decide to release another album, I’m happy but it really isn’t necessary.

                Archers of Loaf are coming back for what appears to be a fairly decent-sized tour. They will hit north, south, east, west, and even the middle section of the United States of America. Countless college radio stations will see DJs from decades past reconnect for the sole purpose of scoring free tickets. I may decide to call a few people and see if I can get some if I promise to do a ‘webcast’ or something.

                Really though, I think Archers of Loaf might be next to the word ‘slackers’ in the dictionary along with Guided By Voices. Both of those bands sounded more like they were hanging out than making actual music. That remains a selling point for both of them especially thirty or forty-somethings who wax nostalgic for the early 90s, when allegedly better indie music and film existed, before it was co-opted by market forces.

                In preparation, I’ve decided to revisit the Archers of Loaf seminal album, Icky Mettle. Listening to it, I’m reminded I got into them as soon as I became a college radio DJ. For some college radio stations, it is required listening before you start on the air. “Web in Front” I wanted them to be my spine, to keep me strong against the forces of work, the needs of our economy, GDP, and so on. When I heard this song, I think I played it on repeat for a couple of days. Never has two minutes of my life sounded so nice. 

                Slackers will make a comeback with this reunion tour, I’m certain of it. Like the early 90s, we have high unemployment and what I’m beginning to realize is a pretty interesting underbelly of countless bedroom musicians, bedroom writers, bedroom film makers, and so on. Let’s hope Archers of Loaf lead us to that lazier, happier land.