(Updated below)
Been diggin’ further into the eMusic crates to boost my indie cred. I made some solid discoveries including a few of those bands listed on the right side of his page (where them links are: Ratatat and Of Montreal).
A few weeks back I grabbed a track off of the hype machine, by the recommendation of some music blog, as these things in the digital world tend to happen. Shortly after listening, I found myself downloading the entire 120 Days album from eMusic, beacuse I not only liked their sound, but it was just too easy. (Sidenote: Even though eMusic will soon be dropping the total amount of downloads you can get per month, the site is still a good deal for those of us that are into independent music or just plain curious for new sound)
Anywhoo…120 Days caught my ear because of their interestign mix of millennial electronic sounds and old-school, 80s-New Wave vibe. There’s something in here that reminds me of the Cure, the vocals sometimes conjure Perry Ferrell, but the keys and synths are far too fresh and washed-out to be the original New Wave. They create lots of washes and tons of layered textures to the point of sonic overload…but all in a good way. Also, it’s not very often I find a band that seems to fall into the “hot new indie band” category but also stretches out their songs nearly into “jam” territory. And the long drawn-out dance tracks from 120 Days’ eponymous debut are a great middle ground for my tastes. However, 120 Days is definitely not a jamband; they are simply a band that can jam or strecth their songs, and they’re also just friggin loud (perhaps a bit TOO loud for some of the jammier set). My only complaint is the lack of variation in the vocals and the sometimes trite lyrical content. But half the time you can hardly understand a word, and in this case, I’m not really complaining (odd, but true).
But all my musings are really quite meaningless unless you actually HEAR what 120 Days sounds like. So here are a few tracks to check out (for promo purposes only, please). If you dig the sound, go grab their full album from eMusic (also, if you sign up for a subscription soon, you can lock in the higher monthly downloads for the original price before the bump them down; and you can also help me out by clicking through on my page). Also, for you Chicago folk, 120 days is at the Empty Bottle this Saturday. Enjoy!
Side note: If you dig the instrumental side of this band (maybe because you’re not into the vocals or sheer volume levels), the washy synths and 80s dance beats, remind a bit of a local Chicago electro-rock band, Future Rock. As it turns out, Future Rock will be playing in support of Particle at the Park West, the same night as 120 Days. But, if both shows are of interest, Future Rock will also be at Sonotheque next Friday along with one my fav Chi-town DJ crews, the Orchard Lounge. So, Chi-town peeps, go get your dance on!
Update: Stereogum has a nicely timed post about 120 Days that includes a YouTube video of them doing part of “Come Out (Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone)” – that first track listed above. Good times!
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Habeef added these pithy words on
Nov 09 06 at
2:55 pm
