BORIS: HEAVY ROCKS (2011)
1) Riot Sugar; 2) Leak (Truth,
yesnoyesnoyes); 3) GALAXIANS; 4) Jackson Head; 5) Missing Pieces; 6) Key; 7)
Windows Shopping; 8) Tu, La La; 9) Aileron; 10) Czechoslovakia.
How many bands do you know that have released two
different albums with exactly the
same title, and that title was not
the band's name? I honestly cannot think of a single one at present, though I
am almost sure that it's just my mind playing a trick on me or something. But
if not, then Boris have this dubious honor of revolutionizing the musical world
yet another time — and giving their already brain-ravaged fans an even harder
time. Even the album covers, by the way, are completely the same, except for
the color: the first one was orange and this one is purple. Then again, Boris
are well known for often releasing the exact same record with different sleeve
colors, so essentially they're just trying to fuck us up here. Completely.
The largest irony of all, though, is that this
new Heavy Rocks is... pretty dang
good! In fact, it is really the closest thing to a «good» non-noise Boris album
since... uh... scrolling... scrolling... scrolling... oh wait, we are already
in the Boo Radleys... back... back... okay, never mind. This is a pretty dang
good Boris album, period.
So, apparently, at the same time that they were
working on their ridiculous «J-Pop» homage, they were also producing a much more hard rock/metal-oriented album, with
shades of punk, industrial, and psychedelia, that ended up sounding more fun,
more aggressive, more catchy, and making much better use of the band's biggest
strength (guitar tones). It is still not possible to say if they are being
serious, ironic, or clueless, but at least they are definitely being less
irritating, and at no times does this record begin to seem openly «stupid»,
which was my largest beef with New Album
and its pervy vibes.
ʽRiot Sugarʼ opens the record with a bona fide
Metallica riff, immediately followed by the shrill, multi-tracked, echoey wail of
the lead guitar that is more reminiscent of old-school psychedelics, and then followed by vocals that do not
openly suck — maybe because they are also echo-laden and multi-tracked, or
maybe because they actually belong to Ian Astbury of The Cult, guest starring
on this particular track. There are quite a few other guest vocalists on the
album, by the way, including Aaron Turner of Isis and some Japanese people I am
not familiar with, and this in itself is a good sign, perhaps indicative of the
band actually willing to go out on a limb and produce something good in all
respects... for a change.
The album is refreshingly diverse, too. ʽLeakʼ combines
psychedelic falsetto choruses with dissonant lead guitar parts that remind you
of the old Frisco scene, although the main body of the song is more reminiscent
of some early New Wave act like Television. ʽGALAXIANSʼ gallops ahead with the
speed and energy of a professional hardcore act, but the guitar tones and accompanying
«revving-up» electronic noises give it more of an industrial feel. The
alternate version of ʽJackson Headʼ, with guitar instead of electronica, is a
great reminder to me why I so much prefer guitar-based rock to electronica when
we are talking energetic/aggressive music — Wata's choppy guitar chords,
backed with Atsuo's kick-heavy percussion, give the song a sharp edge that it
sorely lacked in its techno mix. The difference between the two versions of
ʽTu, La Laʼ is not as easily noticeable, but I also prefer this more
guitar-oriented rendition to the synthesized strings of New Album, which made it kinda corny.
The feelings get more mixed when we get around to
the two extended, atmospheric «post-rock» workouts. ʽMissing Piecesʼ seems like
an attempt to outdo Godspeed You! Black Emperor, gradually building up from a
mere trickle into an ocean of sound, with legions of trilling guitars and
torrents of feedback eventually bursting through the dam; ʽAileronʼ sounds like
some wailing sinner, calling to you out of the depths of hell while Wata's fried
power chords and high-pitched guitar howls imitate underground volcanic activity.
But both tracks go on for much too long and must have taken the band much less
time to prepare than a typical GY!BE mini-symphony — as I already said, in «expanded»
mode Boris have to be minimalist Nazis: anything more than «pure» feedback
blasts and you begin to sense some deficiencies in their music-making.
Still, whether by accident or not, on the whole
these «purple» Heavy Rocks nail it
just right. There is no deep meaning to this album, no special social value or
sharp emotional resonance — but whenever possible, it kicks ass, and it manages
to do so without sounding too ridiculous, too overstated, or too overtly «shocking».
I am genuinely surprised at how decent this one turned out: easily deserving of
a thumbs up
and recommendable to the community at large without any special reservations.
But at this point, is there anyone left to care?
ReplyDeleteLol I'd given up on this band putting out any music that was listenable -- now there are two albums that I could check out without hating myself. Maybe "Attention Prease" will also be ok.
DeleteVery nice, but if you want to know what's really happening in Japan you better check stuff like
ReplyDeletehttp://www.frontaalnaakt.nl/archives/some-subversive-noise-from-japan-the-orokamono-club.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dk5CEon_R4