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LOVE TRACTOR
Black Hole
Fundamental
Love Tractor has always been an
evolutionary band. From its raw begin
ning as an instrumental outfit at a party
on Barber Street in 1980. to adding
vocals, changing drummers and uti
lizing clarinet, keyboards and synths.
the legendary Athens quartet has been
neither predictable nor stagnant.
Now the band faces its biggest tran
sition. Black Hole wives exactly four
years after the release ol The Sky at
Night a criminally underrated and over
looked release that came after a decade-
long hiatus from playing live Then
silence again. And a period of change.
The result? Tliese days, guitarist, co
founder and vocalist Mike Richmond is
the sole original member
On “Georgia Rain.* he sings. Tm
changin' / And the world is changin' at
the speed ol sound.* and he could very
well be referencing the state ol his
band Richmond* voice is instantly rec
ognizable—although here it* without
Mark Cline* colorful interaction or dual
guitar attack—and he explores an airy,
dreamy and prog-tinged territory hinted
at on 1989* otherworldly Themes From
Venus.
Many of Black Holts arrangements
spiral out into ever-widening circles.
Anchored with solid musicianship
throughout this jacked-up Tractor
sounds like an odd hybrid ol The
Glands and Widespread Panic ‘Another
One* is a bombastic, overblown stomp,
and on the other end ol the spectrum,
'led Balloon* is a satisfying rumination
propelled by clinking beer bottle per
cussion. The six-minute album-closing
Til the Morning Comes’starts out as
an angelic singer-songwriter love song,
then drifts into the ether with stacked
vocals and an astral. Van Dyke Parks-
on-acid arrangement
Love Tractor 2K5 is, in marry ways,
a space ship. It sure ain't no "Party
Train.* And nope, there* no *8uy Me a
Million Dollars’ here. Not even a ‘Chili
Damn Willi.* but that* been done
already, anyway After a quarter-century
on the farm, Richmond is plowing a
brand new and—for the most part-
fertile field here, as his Southern-fried
psychedelic journey continues
Lee Valentine Smith
LOUIS MV
The Best Utile Secrets Are Kept
Atlantic
You may have already heard about
Louis XIV. You may have heard them on
The O.C.* (as the soundtrack to the
lesbian kissin’ that was goin’ on a tew
months back). You may be intrigued, or
repulsed. But let* dispel some
common misperceptions 3bout the
band. Shall we?
No. 1: They are giam rock. This Is
not true. While they might want to be a
return to rock vanguard, they certainly
donl sound like the ‘70s progenitors
they're ostensibly aping, and donT even
match the legitimate, and very enjoy
able. modern-day inheritors ol that tra
dition like the Darkness and Bucfcherry.
They sound like a thousand other spe-
cific-artcle/ short-noun pair garage-
rock revivalists currently clogging our
review piles. Woozy and Nah. And they
donT even do that well.
No. 2: Their lyrical insouciance is
winning. Au oortraire, bitches. Their
ironic-taddism shtick not only (ails flat,
but mins good songs, like "Finding Out
True Love Is Blind.’ whose narrator is
under the impression he likes every
kind W girl when he really only likes
every kind ol hipster girl, which is an
entirely different matter. And even this
would be lorgivaWe il Prince hadnT
been proving that sexy-ism is more fur
than sexism for nigh on 25 years now
Put these lyrics up against ’ll I Was Ur
GirftTiend* and see which wins.
No 11 like them First. I donT
know who told you this And second,
uh. no Really, the misguided lyrics
aren't that tragique. because the music,
aside from one or two winners, sucks
loo. Smug assholes ♦ boring music =
not for me. thanks.
Michael Barthei
KM68 OF im
Aha Shake Heartbreak
RCA
Only two albums into their career,
this much publicized (amity ad from
Tennessee has created something W a
modem rock behemoth. Aha fellows
2003* debut Youth and Young
Manhood, an album that introduced us
to the Fotlowill family. Three sons, one
nephew of an excommunicated traveling
preacher named Leon, the Kings already
had a story that set them apart from
most shaggy, disaffected no-rockers
But the tad that their tunes were so
well-developed really sealed the deal
Youth's powerful guitar rock doesn't
simply get regurgitated here. It takes a
backseat to tight bass-driven blasts,
crisp chiming guitars and lonesome
balladry complete with gory tales-from-
the-road detail A/ualso plays like 50
indie, psych and classic rock records ail
going at once. Much of it builds and
careens like the old SST crowd; a mix ol
classic rock ethos and new wave tun
ings. Both *Slow Night. So Long* and
’He Bucket* recall the structure of Sonic
Youth* Teenage Riot,* but with vocals
and subject matter more along the lines
ol Thin Lizzy. Then there* the boogie-
calypso coda of “Slow Night.*
A/aisago-fer-broke effort tha
makes good on most all its gambles As
evidenced by the strung-out closing
ballad *Rememo.* Caleb Followill*
hangover drawl and waltfkwrcr persona
are the perfed fit for the Kings’ docu
ments ol naive debauchery and
unavoidable regret The Followill boys
have proven themselves capable of
delivering vividly memorable songs and
an album that'll probably sound just as
wild and restless 10 years down the
road as it does right this second.
Michael Andrews
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